SWC One-Shot Collection
by ZygardeFusion
Summary: A large collection of One-Shots written by the SWC (Splatoon Writer's Community) from all over the internet. Written by ZygardeFusion, EagleByte, ARandomInterloper, Stargazer Nyx, RisingPhoenix56, Justsomesquidiot, Obliterwrite, Toon Think, and Plain Ol' Spectator
1. The All-Important Intro

**Welcome to the SWC One-Shot Community Collection!**

"So," began Zygarde, "Welcome to our collection!"

Everyone began cheering for the inkling onstage.

"We put a lot of effort into this, and we've never done this before, so do us a favor and don't drop hate, okay? With that, let's enter the all-important writers, FIZZ, EAGLE, OBLITER, NYX, PHOENIX, TOON, AND INTERLOPER!"

As Zygarde said the names of his fellow authors, they all ran out on stage and waved to their fans that were screaming in joy.

"Hey hey! Obliter checking in! Even though it's my first time writing a one shot, I hope you enjoy it!" Obliter said, waving at his fans.

"This is uh… I'm sorry, I just woke up from a coma and I have no idea where the fuck I am, but hi." Toon said in a confused tone.

"Welp, I don't know what to say, so hi, I guess!" Eagle said while waving.

"Hope you like our first big collaboration." Interloper waved.

Fizz, wanting no part in this ridiculous intro, stands off to the side.

"Hey guys, I really do hope you like this! We're putting a lot of work into these ideas!" Nyx said while waving excitedly.

"And with that, just a few things we wanna say." Zygarde said. "We won't be accepting requests for your characters or one-shot ideas, so sorry to everyone who had ideas. This doesn't stop you guys from writing your own work, however."

"Also, not everyone will be posting every month." Nyx noted. "So please don't get angry if someone you like doesn't post."

"Which brings up the point that we will post more one-shots every month." Toon said. "We have more ideas that we want to share, so keep an eye out for new one-shots!"

"Also, feel free to drop a review if you enjoyed our work!" Interloper exclaimed. "Tell us what we can improve on, as most of us haven't written one-shots before."

"And with that, one last important thing," Obliter said. "We own absolutely nothing except our OC's. Hope you enjoy!"

"And with that, let us begin!" Zygarde exclaimed. The authors all then received a flood of applause.


	2. The Good Old Weapon Swap

**A/N: Hey hey, it's Zygarde! As you may know, me and some authors in the community are writing a one-shot collection, and I'm going to write for it! (Of course I am, we're posting it through my account.) Here's my first one-shot, The Good Old Weapon Swap!**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except Antonio and his squadmates. **

**(Takes place after Chapter 5 of An Adventure of A Lifetime)**

I knew that it was a mistake, letting my friends do a weapon swap for today's turf wars. I mean, just because I had a day off doesn't mean I had to suffer more than I did after the Octo Samurai, right? We began to spin wheels on our phones, figuring that I had a chance at a good weapon.

I was wrong, as my first weapon was the Clash Blaster.

"NOOOOOO!" I roared. "WHY THE CLASH BLASTER?"

As I soon found out, I was not alone.

"WHYYY ME?!" My brother roared. "OH WHY DID I HAVE TO USE THE DYNAMO ROLLER?!"

Logan got the Bamboozler, which he was okay with, and Matthew got a Splattershot Pro, which he was actually using as his alternate main.

"We are changing weapons, right?" Mariano asked. "I am _so _not using the Dynamo Roller."

"Don't worry, I'm not that cruel." Matthew reassured. "We've got to make sure everyone is on edge. Everyone being our enemies."

"Easy for you to say," Mariano spat. "You're not the dualie main with a Dynamo Roller."

"Guys, will everyone stop being salty?" I asked. "The point of our squad is to show the world what we can do, not so we can jump to conclusions that Matthew rigged the spinning wheel, right?"

Everyone just stared at me.

"You honestly thought he did that?" Logan deadpanned. "Either way, let's get going. Our weapons won't change until we do a match."

He was right. I hoped for the best and went into the lobby with all the hope I had.

**One Match Later…**

Well, that was depressing. We ended up against a really good squad, and I may have witnessed Mariano nearly flatten himself. We span the wheel on our phones, then prepared for humiliation. Surprisingly, I managed to get a Sloshing Machine, which I had tried and successfully learned how to use for turf wars. I then witnessed Matthew pull a Goo Tuber, which would make for an interesting team-up. Then, once again, Mariano got struck with more bad luck, as he got an E-Liter 4K. **(A/N: If you check my profile, you'll know that Mariano hates chargers as much as some people hated Metroid: Other M.) **

Logan subsequently got hit with the terrible luck, as he got a Tenta Brella. We then walked into a match, ready for anything.

**[Scene Change, Starfish Mainstage]**

We jumped out of our spawnpoint and began turfing the area. Me and Matthew started to rush the concert stage, while Logan and Mariano took the sides. I dodged a few shots, then launched back some shots, splatting their Splatling user. We ran around, tracking people and splatting them.

_Note to self, ask Marie to add Point Sensors to my arsenal. _

We then rushed them and turfed, while Mariano started to get ganged up on his end. I jumped to him and began throwing Splat Bombs from my launcher, splatting the enemies and taking back the turf that we'd lost.

"Nice job, ya moron." I said while looking at him. "Hope they got that on camera."

"Hey, don't start quoting me, just because you want payback." Mariano glared at me.

We then rushed to take their turf over. Around that time, there were only thirty seconds left. We got some resistance, but we managed to push them back further. By the time we arrived in their spawn area, time was up.

"Mrrroww." Judd purred. "_And the winner is… Team Overdrive!" _

We all cheered, then returned to the lobby to decide what to do.

"So, what's gonna be our next weapons?" I asked.

"I actually just hit level 30. To celebrate, I was gonna grab that .96 Gal I've had my eyes on for a while." Matthew stated.

"All this time, you've been a level 29 tryhard sniper?" Logan gasped in disbelief.

"Take a guess why I got a Galactic Seanwich this morning. I was making the push." Matthew retorted.

I sighed. "Guys, are you seriously having another argument?"

Logan then pointed out that the rule was that you had to be level 30 or higher to be part of the squad.

"Well, we were short on snipers!" I pointed out. "Back then, he was the only sniper that wanted to join!"

Mariano sighed. "Honestly, I will never understand your quote unquote, 'squad politics'."

"Guys, what matters is that we don't have to constantly ask for people to fill." I replied. "If we're gonna do the tournament, we should put our heads together."

"Wait, we _are _doing the tournament?" Matthew asked.

"Take a guess, Matt." I replied. "Of course we are."

"Well, since we all now qualify for the tourney, I guess we should sign up." Logan suggested.

"One more match, then?" I asked.

We then pulled out each other's weapons. I pulled out Matthew's charger, Mariano pulled Logan's blaster, Logan pulled Mariano's dualies, and Matthew pulled my roller.

"Wow, we gave up on the randomizer in favor of the weapon swap?" Mariano asked.

"Well, some things never change." I replied with a grin. "One more time before the tournament?"

Everyone said yes.

"Let's do this, then!" I cheered.

**[Scene Change, Camp Triggerfish]**

We pulled out our weapons, then I rushed to the center of the map with Matthew. Logan had seized control of the area to the left of our spawn and now was joining us in controlling the middle of the map. They were shooting back at us, but a quick Splashdown on Matthew's account pushed them back into a 360o no-scope from me. I then flossed on them, only to get copystriked by an angry charger user. I returned to the spawn, muttering "of course it had to be copyrighted." Man, I get in trouble for everything, even doing nothing. I began to take back most of the right area with a quick blast from my Kensa Splaterscope, effectively removing the Slosher user that tried to take the area for herself. Around that time, the music switched from Entropical to Now or Never. While I wanted my favorite song back, I knew that it was time to push. I jumped to Logan, then began pushing for the enemy. I began sniping everyone that I could, my final being another 360o no-scope that hit the remaining 3 members of the squad. With that, there were three seconds and by the time that they respawned, the match was over. Judd counted up everything, and we knocked them out with a whopping 74%! Man, we really gave it to them.

"Alright!" Matthew exclaimed. "We really got them!"

"Well, it's time then." I replied confidently. "Let's win this next tournament."

With that, Team Overdrive was now ready for the tournament.

**A/N: With that, my One-Shot is concluded. I hope y'all enjoyed, and make sure to read everyone's work, okay? Next time, on the SWC One-Shot community- wait, why am I doing this? Well, see you then, readers!**


	3. Splatoon Island

**Hey all, Toon Think here. Before I start here, a bit of a disclaimer. I just wanna say that this is basically like a novelisation of the Splatoon Island trailer (that April Fools fake trailer for a game that doesn't exist for those of you who don't know), so, I've gotta give credit here to Mike Inel. He created the trailer and made the designs for the characters that will appear in this, even if I was the one who basically gave them their names and personalities, as well as the location and some of the scenarios. Otherwise, everything here is from Splatoon itself and thus belongs to Nintendo of course. With that out of the way, this might be a bit of a long read in comparison to the other one-shots in this, so sit back, grab a drink and some popcorn, and enjoy.**

**Splatoon Island**

**Written by: Toon Think**

* * *

In the middle of the vast ocean, there sat two islands. By sheer coincidence, one was shaped like Squid, and the other like an Octopus, the two sitting right next to each other.

A group of speedboats sped toward the island that was shaped like a Squid, filled with different Inklings who were on their way to their vacation.

"We're almost there!" One of the drivers, a Jellyfish, announced. "You can see the island if you look straight ahead!"

The Inklings on that boat turned to see the green island, leaning on the railing. The blue-haired male Inkling pulled out his cell phone and began to take pictures.

The pink-haired female Inkling near him took off her sunhat and pulled out the brochure again, reading it out loud in excitement.

"Welcome to Splatoon Island! We are eternally grateful that you would choose our humble island for your vacation! Here at Splatoon Island, we are all about adult fun, while the kids stay at home and play Turf War. We hold many activities, such as water-related sports and, the main attraction, privately held Splatfests! Make it on April 1st for the Tea vs Coffee Splatfest to see the introduction of the new breakout pop star duo, Solar Flair, comprised of beautiful singers Dawn and Sunny!"

She put down the brochure with a big grin on her face, turning to the blue-haired Inkling. "Isn't this so exciting, Ethan!?"

"Hm?" Ethan put down the phone, turning to his girlfriend. "Oh… yeah, Amelia, this is exciting."

"Can you just imagine the thrill of playing water-related sports!? Knowing that one wrong move could instantly splat you!? We get to try that!"

"I mean… I don't consider that fun, but, if that's what you enjoy…"

"And Dawn and Sunny! Oooh, we get to see them perform live! No one even knows what their outfits will look like, but after they released Tentacular Summer, even if it didn't have any vocals, ahh I'm already their number 1 fan!"

Ethan checked his backpack, just to make sure his trusty black box was still there. "Yeah. I'm excited." He said with a small grin. "I have a feeling this vacation will be magical…"

* * *

A few minutes passed and the speedboats finally reached the island. The two said their goodbyes to the Jellyfish driver and made their way into the main plaza.

They looked around in amazement. This place was so fancy compared to Inkopolis, with fountains, silver tables with umbrellas, and palm trees. The hotel that they were going to had massive electronic billboards of both the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook littered over the wall. Ethan looked up at the billboards in curiosity.

Amelia giggled in excitement. "This place is so cool!"

Ethan pulled out a paper from his backpack, which had words lazily written in pencil. "Alright, let's go over the schedule again. Today, March 30th. Sign in to hotel." He squinted his eyes in confusion. "…That's quite the uneventful first day, but alright. Tomorrow, March 31st, play Ball Smash with Jake and Lily. Defeat Team Rocket. Sit and cry for the rest of the day if we lose."

"You actually put sit and cry in the schedule?" Amelia asked. She attempted to look over his shoulder, but Ethan suddenly pulled it from her view.

"Well, if we lose. Anyway… Finally, April 1st. Fight for the glory of team Sun in the Splatfest. Watch Solar Flair perform." He stopped reading it out loud there, even if there was more.

He glanced at the last line nervously. '_Propose to Amelia on the beach.' _He smiled, folding the paper and putting it back. "Yep. Everything seems to be in order here."

Amelia wondered why he was hiding the paper from her, but shrugged it off and smiled. "Great." She said as she pecked him on the lips. "Come on. We gotta get to the hotel before all the rooms get taken or something."

* * *

A few minutes of booking their room later, the two made their way up to their room, which was one of the few rooms left available in the entire building. The hotel seemed to be having a busy day compared to what the staff was used to, because the staff were very obviously frustrated and frantically doing their jobs.

The awkwardly opened the room, and to their horror, the room was an absolute mess.

"What the…" Amelia muttered out loud.

"Oh god…" Ethan said, looking around. The closet door was broken off the hinges, laying on the floor, there was random food and clothes all over the floor, one of the windows was missing, the ceiling fan wasn't even on the ceiling, and the bed they were supposed to sleep on was somehow flipped over, the covers tossed among the random food and clothes. They stared in utter shock at what they were seeing.

Amelia eventually broke the silence. "…THIS is what we payed for!? This has been the most expensive vacation we've ever been on and this is what our room is?"

"Uh… I'll get the office." Ethan said, turning around and walking out. Suddenly, however, he tripped and landed on his face with an "OW!"

"Hey hey hey! Watch where you're going, man!" A jellyfish, who he apparently tripped over, said, standing up. He recollected himself, and then waved awkwardly. "Hi. I'm room service."

Ethan himself got up. "Mind telling me why our room his such a mess!?"

The jellyfish took a moment to observe the room. "…Ooohh, it isn't, isn't it? Yeah, sorry, the last people who had this room threw a tantrum."

"Must've been quite the tantrum." Amelia said, a little frustrated.

"Yeah. I came up here to find the body."

Silence for a few moments, before Ethan and Amelia both yelled out together. "A BODY!?"

"Yes, unfortunately there has been a murder. Ink everywhere. I've heard rumors the head is just gone. Do not worry though, ladies, I am on the case!"

Amelia began to step out of the room. "Ok, I'm not feeling well, I need to sit down."

"I'm not… I'm not a lady…" Ethan said awkwardly. "Why did you rent us this room when there's a god damn body in here!?"

"Dude… I was kidding." The jellyfish said. "It was just a tantrum. If there was a murder, the entire hotel would be shut down and there'd be police everywhere." He began to start cleaning the room, mumbling under his breath. "…Idiots."

Ethan and Amelia looked at each other in annoyance, and then back at the jellyfish. "I demand we get another room right this instant!" Amelia yelled.

"No can do. All the rooms are taken at this point."

"We were just at the office a few minutes ago and they said there were others!"

"Well, that was a few minutes ago. There's a lot of people checking into rooms today. This hotel wasn't exactly built for that, you know."

Amelia grunted, but the jellyfish wasn't done.

"How about some island facts while we're here? Despite the fanciness, this place is in the middle of the ocean obviously, so we really don't get that many visitors here. We've been having a massive spike in attention lately just because of the splatfest thing going on." He sighed to himself. "…God I hate splatfests. People having fun makes me sick…"

Ethan and Amelia once again looked at each other. Maybe coming to this island was a mistake. "Uh… How long until the room doesn't look like a tornado aftermath?" Ethan asked.

"Give me the rest of the day, will ya? You people have no patience!"

* * *

**That Night**

It was going on midnight. The jellyfish had cleaned up their room, left long ago, and now, Ethan and Amelia both collapsed into the bed, sweaty.

They took a few minutes to sit and relax, breathing heavily, as Amelia broke the silence. "So uh… how was your first day at Splatoon Island?"

"...Quite shitty up to the end there." Ethan sighed. "Tomorrow should be better. Jake and Lily should be here by then."

"And then hopefully we can finally take down Team Rocket."

"Yeah… That too…" Ethan stood up and began to put back on his clothes.

Amelia sat up in the bed. "Uh… Going somewhere?"

Ethan slipped on a t-shirt. "Yeah, just thought I'd go down to the bar. Get a drink."

Amelia groaned and reached down for her watch, checking the time. "Ethan, it's almost midnight. Please don't do this tonight…"

"I'm only going down for a few drinks."

She looked at him with concern. "Last time you said that it almost splatted you. You know you can't digest too many liquids, especially not alcohol…"

"It's not a big deal. I'm not addicted anymore. I'm still on a fresh slate."

"You promised that you'd go cold turkey, though."

He stopped. "…I did promise that, didn't I?"

She went over and grabbed his arm. "Come on, just sit and chill in bed with me for a bit."

Ethan pulled away. "Honey, I'm sorry, but…" He grew more nervous. "You know I have issues, and…"

"Hell yeah I know you have issues."

"And yeah I promised I'd cut alcohol all together, but the thing is, I haven't been keeping that promise anyway."

Amelia's face grew frustrated. "Oh…" She looked down. "Of course you haven't…"

"I'm just going down for a couple drinks, maybe some games, and then I'll come back up. It doesn't even need to concern you."

"...Fine."

They sat in silence for a few seconds as they both waited for each other to say something.

"...I love you, Ethan. With all my heart. You know what, right?"

Ethan smiled. "I know. See you later." He turned to leave, and Amelia's face grew consistently frustrated.

"...Are you gonna say 'I love you' back?"

Ethan stopped and slowly turned around. His thoughts went back to the black box. He wanted to save those three words for the big night… "…I love you." He let out awkwardly.

Amelia sighed. "…Like you mean it?"

Ethan sighed himself. "Can we not do this right now? Like I said, I'll see you later."

Suddenly Amelia jolted across the room and grabbed his arm. "You know what? Nu huh. We are doing this right now."

"Amelia, what are you-?"

"I just wanted to have a simple fun vacation. I just wanted to spend some time with you. I put money into this, and I put time into planning this."

"I was the one who planned this!"

"You planned the dumb shit we'd do once we get here. I planned how we'd get here, all the money behind it, what to pack, how long we'd be gone, how it'd affect our work…" She listed, tapping her fingers to count.

"Amelia, please, can we talk about this later?"

"We're talking about this now." Amelia continued angrily, fighting back tears. "I put so much of my time into just making sure that you're happy and you… you just treat me like just another hot girl who's willing to sleep with you."

"Amelia, that's not what I-"

"And now the time has come where you need to start showing me more respect or I can't… I can't be with you anymore!"

Ethan now looked concerned himself. "…What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?"

"No, but I'm feeling damn near breaking up with you." Now she was crying a little bit. "I can't keep doing this, Ethan. Not after I put so much work into a vacation just for you."

"Amelia, I…"

"And honestly, I just need to come out and say this one thing. You're a mess."

Ouch. Ethan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I tried to get you off alcohol and now you're admitting that you're drinking it behind my back. Do you know how much that worries me?"

"I have it under control, I-"

"It almost KILLED you last time! And I'm tired of this secrets game you play!"

"What secrets game?"

"Earlier when you wouldn't even let me see your to-do list! Speaking of, what even is on that list? Some other girl I don't know about, maybe? Maybe you getting drunk to high heaven until you get splatted?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous…"

"If I'm being so ridiculous then it must not be a problem for you to show me the damn list!"

Ethan sighed again. He opened the door to leave. "…Let's just talk about this later."

Suddenly, Amelia extended her hand in an instant and slapped him. Hard.

"Ow…" He groaned, rubbing his cheek. "What the hell?"

"Screw you." Amelia said, giving him a light shove in the direction of the hall and returning to the bed. "Maybe we should just break up."

The emotions that Ethan were currently feeling was a mixture of regret, 'you're overreacting', anger, and mostly, straight heartbreak. Sighing once more, he slammed the door shut.

Amelia wept to herself.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

It was a beautiful day for a good game of Ball Smash. Amelia arrived at the swimming pool early, in her swimsuit, sighing to herself. The pool was lined with donut-shaped floats, where the games would take place on. The rules of Ball Smash were relatively simple, and pretty similar to Turf War. Basically, the goal was to spread as much ink onto the floats as possible by standing on them, all while the two teams of four toss multiple volleyballs at each other like in volleyball. Failing to hit the volleyballs would result in enemy ink being spread across their own floats.

Some Jellyfish were setting up a sign by the side of the court. She looked up to it. **WII SPORTS RESORT!** It showed with big bold letters.

"Um… What does Wii mean?" She said, confused.

"I dunno." One of the Jellyfish said, getting down from his ladder. "But it was either this or calling the event Tomodachi Life, so…"

"Ok? What does Tomodachi mean?"

"Still dunno." The two Jellyfish walked away.

Amelia stood alone by the pool, thinking to herself. She had not seen Ethan since their little fight the night before, and naturally, she was getting nervous. What if… their relationship was just over? Suddenly, as she thought this, a female voice pierced her ears.

"EEEEE! AMELIA!" The girl said, running up to and hugging her. Amelia immediately smiled and accepted the hug.

"EEEEE! LILY!" She exclaimed, as they hugged each other. "I'm so glad to see you! How have you been, girl!?"

"Just chilling! Jake and I got here in the early hours this morning!" Lily replied, breaking the hug. Jake walked up to them from behind her.

"Sup." He said, also going in to hug Amelia.

"Hi, Jake! Oh god, I hope you managed to get rooms!"

"We haven't gone to the hotel yet. Why? Are they all out or something?"

"Unfortunately. Maybe you can stay with us though. So, uh, how are the kids?"

"Our little girl is in school!" Lily replied, her enthusiasm unfading. "She's so adorable, just a little squid, I can show you pictures!"

They spent a few minutes showing Amelia the pictures, reacting as one normally would, before the subject changed.

"So, how are things going with you and Ethan?" Lily said.

Amelia cringed slightly, remembering last night. "We're… still dating. Few rough edges to work out, but you know how that is. Just… waiting to take things to the next step."

"Oh my god, are you gonna propose to him?"

Amelia chuckled. "Heh. Well… I don't know…"

"Oh come on, you two are perfect for each other."

"I guess I just… Need to work some stuff out with him first, ya know? Maybe I still need time to decide if he's… right for me."

Lily's smile faded. "Oh… Well, I wish best of luck to both of you."

"Thank you, you too."

They continued to converse for a few moments before eventually Ethan himself arrived.

"Hey, man." Ethan said, going up to Jake and giving him a quick man hug.

"Sup, dude. It's been a while, hasn't it?." Jake responded.

"Yeah, well, you know. Been busy."

Amelia rolled her eyes at the 'been busy' part, but no one noticed as all eyes were on Ethan. Eventually, Ethan and Amelia locked some painful eye contact.

Refusing to say a word to each other, the eye contact soon broke awkwardly. This flew over Jake's head, but Lily noticed and squinted a little in confusion. "…Are you guys ok?"

"Uh… yeah. We're perfectly fine. Just, you know, ready to take down Team Rocket!" Ethan said, dropping the negative attitude.

"Yeah, man. Dualie Syndicate, assemble!" Jake suddenly said, tossing his fist up into the air. All four of them smiled, bumping each others fists.

Suddenly a Jellyfish got up onto a stool behind them with a megaphone. "_Attention, Dualie Syndicate!" _He yelled into it.

Because of how close he was, it was loud. The team covered their ears in pain. "Ow! You don't need to use that thing!" Amelia yelled.

"_I regret to inform you that the Wii Sports Resort event and the associated games are cancelled!"_

Then, the team grunted. "What? Why!?"

"_Team Rocket is a no show. They never made it to the island."_

"Are you serious!? We've been planning this for a month!"

"_I'm sorry, ladies, but there's nothing I can do. Unless you can find a replacement for Team Rocket, Wii Sports Resort will have to be cancelled. Have a good rest of your vacation."_

The jellyfish put down the loudspeaker and began to leave. Everyone grunted among themselves.

"Well this is just perfect." Ethan sighed. "I've been training to take down Team Rocket for a solid year at this point…"

"Not much we can do about it." Jake said. "Well, this entire vacation is a bust."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." Amelia replied. "I mean… There's still a Splatfest tomorrow… Isn't there?"

"No one cares about the Splatfest." Jake and Lily both responded. "We came here to play dangerous water sports and we are going to play dangerous water sports."

"_Attention, Dualie Syndicate!" _The Jellyfish repeated once again into the loudspeaker as he stood back on the stool. "_I have another announcement!"_

"What now!?" Ethan yelled, once again covering his ears. "And stop yelling into that thing!"

"_We have found replacements for Team Rocket! They will be joining you momentarily, and then the game of Ball Smash can begin." _Once again, he stepped down from the stool.

"Wait, who's replacing them?"

They heard footsteps approach from the general direction of the pool, and slowly, they all turned toward the sound.

Time seemed to slow down as the anticipation of who it would be grew. The footsteps grew louder.

A Jellyfish, watching from the side lines, dropped his ice cream as his eyes went wide.

"Oh my god…" Amelia mouthed, eyes also wide.

"No way…" Ethan exclaimed.

Two female Inklings finally approached them. "Hey, guys!" Marie said, wearing her swimsuit.

Callie, who was standing behind her, was holding a volleyball, in her own skirted swimsuit. "Y'all ready to smash some balls!?"

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Amelia screeched, jumping up and down, covering her mouth with her hands, before suddenly launching a bit into the air with a massive scream. "IT'S THE SQUID SISTERS!"

Marie chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… That's us…"

"We heard your game got cancelled, and we were here wanting to play our own game, so, we thought we'd just join you! Sound good?" Callie said excitedly.

"Wow!" Ethan yelled. "That's uh… We don't know what to say! This is so cool!"

Amelia had to fan herself with her hat to keep from passing out. "This is the greatest vacation ever…"

The words bothered Ethan a little. It was as if he was being overshadowed by a couple popstars to Amelia. But, at the same time, he kinda understood why.

Meanwhile, Jake and Lily were both just standing, really not understanding what was so special about these two girls.

"So…" Marie said, taking the volleyball from Callie in a teasing manner. "Game on?"

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

It was a long series a matches. Each person involved had fallen into the water several times at least, and it had reached a point when they were all starting to wonder why they thought they'd make sport out of such dangerous and painful activities. But, they had fun.

"And with the series of matches concluded, the team who has won the most is… Team Squid Sisters!" A Jellyfish announced, holding up a flag in their direction as if he was Judd. "Congratulations!"

Jake threw his hat down, stomping it. "Dammit!" He yelled.

"Aw, guys, don't feel so bad. We're just here to have fun is all. No need to be super competitive." Marie said, smiling. The pop stars were standing next to the couple of standins they had as their teammates. "And I did indeed have fun, so, mission accomplished."

"You knocked my Ball Smash rank from an S+ to an B-…"

"Oh, well, sucks to be you."

"Ranks aren't everything." Ethan said, trying to keep the mood high. "Thanks for playing with us, girls."

"No problem."

"And uh… How are you so good at this anyway?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, it's no problem for us, really!" Callie replied. "I mean, we have some complex training, since we're secret ag-"

Suddenly, Marie elbowed her before she could finish the sentence and give away their most important secret. Then she realized, she had to cover for what she was about to say. "Yeah we're secretly… uh… Trained with uh… We're cult members."

"Oh?" Amelia said in confusion.

Marie cringed to herself. "Yeah… because… cults are a… normal thing… that people… do…" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, uh, we'll see you all around, yeah?"

"Um… ok…" Amelia said awkwardly, as everyone shrugged it off. "Yeah. See you around, I hope. It was nice meeting you." Amelia said as she went to talk to Jake and Lily.

"You too. Let's go, Callie." The two Squid Sisters began to pack their things and walk away, when Callie suddenly awkwardly bumped into Ethan, who was standing by himself..

"Oh!" She said. "Sorry, I'm just a clutz. Oh, what this?" She said, reaching down to pick up the black box that fell from Ethan's pocket. "Is this yours?"

"Uh…" Ethan said awkwardly, preparing for the worst. He looked over, and thank the heavens, Amelia wasn't paying attention.

Callie, being as nosy as she could be sometimes, naturally opened the box without thinking. "Wow…" She exclaimed as she saw the ring inside. "Is this…? It's beautiful…"

"Uh, thanks, please give me my super valuable… object… back. Thank you." Ethan said as he took the box, closed it up, and slid it back into his pocket.

Callie smiled. "You're going to propose to someone, aren't you?"

Ethan glimpsed over, and Amelia was no longer even in the area. She was walking away with Jake and Lily to who knows where. "I mean… Please don't tell her, but, yeah, I was gonna propose to that sweet little lady tomorrow actually."

"Wow!" Callie said, geeking out a little bit. "I've never had someone propose to me. Kind of my fault though because with me it's usually just one-night stands."

"Callie, let's go." Marie pressured, watching from a bit of a distance.

"Can it, Marie!" Callie yelled. "This is important! We're talking about life and death stuff over here!"

Marie rolled her eyes.

Ethan sighed. "Look… just please don't make a big deal out of this. I was gonna propose to her, but… I don't think I should anymore."

"What!? Why!?"

"Because I just… I'm not right for her…"

"What makes you say that?"

"We had a fight last night, and… She called me a mess, and she slapped me, and… look I really shouldn't even be talking with you about this, I should probably go."

"No, you are staying right here, because we're gonna work this out! You're talking about the cute girl with the red hair, I'm assuming? What was her name? Amelia?"

"Yeah…"

"Bingo! Stay right here! Marie!" Callie suddenly yelled, running past him to speak with Marie. "We have a problem!"

Marie groaned. "Callie, we have stuff to do today. What is it?"

"This man is gonna propose to that girl and we need to help them to make sure things stay on track. We gotta activate Code Heart here!"

Marie lazily turned her head to the sky in annoyance. "Oh my god, not Code Heart…"

"Yes Code Heart! Come on, Marie, do it for love!"

"Callie, we seriously have stuff to do today!"

Callie put on her best puppy eyes. "For love…"

"Will you not do the puppy eyes? Come on, Callie, be reasonable here!"

Callie refused to drop the eyes, staring into her soul. "Come on, Marie… be reasonable here…" She mocked.

Marie groaned. "Gramps taught us better than this, you know!"

"For love…" Callie repeated.

"Gah! Fine! I'll do it! Anything for love." Marie grunted, and then sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

* * *

**That Night**

"So, uh, what exactly is Code Heart?" Ethan asked as the waiter at the bar gave him and Callie their drinks.

"Only the most important operation known to Inkling kind." Callie said, gulping down her drink. She groaned in satisfaction, before suddenly smashing the glass against the ground. "ANOTHER!"

The Inklings around them all looked at her awkwardly, as Callie realized her mistake.

"...Please?" She followed up.

Ethan rubbed his palms against his forehead. "I really shouldn't be out drinking again, I already did this last night and got a smack from Amelia for it…"

"What, she doesn't like you drinking? Just a little is harmless."

"I used to have a drinking problem, probably could've died from it. And she knows it too well." Ethan sighed, banging his head on the table.

"Hm." Callie said as the waitress brought her another glass. "Hi, sorry for the mess."

"Crazy bitch." The waitress said, going back to her own business.

"Yeah, I am pretty crazy…" Callie then brought the attention back to the topic. "Alright. Spill it, kid, what happened between you two?"

"Ok, for one, I just told you what happened. Two, don't call me kid, I have a feeling I'm older than you."

"Ok, then, kid." Callie sighed. "Alright, let's wind the clocks back to the beginning. How long have you two known each other?"

"Fresh outta high school. I ran onto her on the street once, we had an awkward chat, I put reached over and put my hand on her shoulder and said in the manliest voice I could muster: 'Hey'".

Callie gasped slightly. "The classic shoulder touch. I saw that in a movie, it really works."

"Have you done it?"

"No but it really works because the movie says so."

"Well I mean it did work. We've been dating ever since. We've been dating for so long that I've just been… itching to make that big leap, you know?"

"Hey, I haven't really been doing too much relationship stuff, like I said, it's just one-night stands with me mostly."

Ethan groaned slightly. "Oh my god this is gonna end up a disaster."

"It already is a disaster and I'm here to fix it. Marie knows what she's doing, trust me, Code Heart is gonna work wonders for you."

"Which is why I'm saying this is gonna end up a disaster."

"Oh, come on, it won't be that bad. Alright, so you've been dating this girl since fresh out of high school, obviously your relationship has some rough edges, and this all happens to go to hell right before you're getting ready to propose?"

"And I don't know how to fix it…" Ethan hid his forehead in his hands as if he was panicking. "I mean, what if I just show the ring tomorrow, after all that's happened, and she says that little word…"

"'Yes, Ethan, of course I'll marry you, ahhh I love you so much ahhh!'"

"The little word I was going for was 'no.'"

"You were planning on proposing during the splatfest tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Dude, that's so perfect, Splatfests are so romantic!"

"They're competitive."

"And romantic! I mean, the setting is perfect my guy, we're on a beautiful island, there'll be fireworks, music, and a night time sky, god I'm getting fuzzy just thinking about it."

"You literally keep saying that you've never really been in a relationship, so why am I supposed to take your advice?"

Callie grinned. "I… know from… TV… It doesn't matter though, because even though I'm just a bystander watching from the side lines here, I feel the electricity in the air. You guys have that electricity, you guys are like electric generators."

"So… You really think she'll say yes?"

"Absolutely. …As long as you make things right with her first."

"What if I can't make things right with her? What if I've pushed her past the point where she doesn't feel like forgiving me?"

Callie chuckled. "That, my new friend, is where Marie comes in…"

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Amelia sighed to herself, sitting in a diner a little west of the of the main plaza. Jake and Lily were sitting at the same table, but their attention was only on each other, as they flirted with each other nonstop. Amelia might as well have been alone. Amelia was picking at her food nervously, her mind on Ethan the whole time. She had a sneaking suspicion that Ethan was out drinking again. What if he got addicted again?

She heard the door open. The diner was pretty empty just because everyone was mainly back toward the plaza, so every little sound in the diner was extremely obvious. A female voice rang out.

"Hey, I'll have some pancakes? Thank you."

Amelia looked up, and to her shock, Marie was standing right by the table. She had to keep herself from screaming again.

"Sup, girl? Mind if we have a chat?" Marie said with a comforting grin.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Amelia awkwardly droned.

A minute later, Amelia abandoned Jake and Lily to sit with Marie in a table toward the back, in order to not draw attention to the popstar.

Amelia was absolutely fangirling silently. She was sitting with one of the Squid Sisters! "Hey, uh, can I just say something?"

"Shoot."

"I'm your number 1 fan! I mean, I've always dreamed about meeting you, so today, was like, magical!"

"Trust me, girl, things are only gonna get better." Marie said. "I've heard quite a bit about you in the past few hours."

Amelia blushed. "Aww, you know about me?"

"I know you're in love with a certain someone."

"Oh…"

"And I know that you two haven't exactly been happy together lately."

Amelia looked down. "Yeah it's just… Oh, I don't know, I guess he can just be hard to get along with sometimes."

"Mind me asking what exactly happened between you two?"

"It's just he's a mess. I spent all this time planning out this vacation, I timed it so we'd make the splatfest, and it was all to make him happy, but… I've barely ever gotten a thank you, or a 'I love you', or… any sign that he loves me really. Last night he left me just so he could go get a drink, which concerns me, because I know he used to have a drinking problem."

Marie took the moment to digest all this. "You know what I think the problem here is?"

"I'm all ears."

"I think this is a lack of communication. A lot of relationships get folded up and left for sharks from stuff like this."

Amelia began to weep silently, hiding in her hands. "I knew it. Our relationship is doomed."

"Hey, no, no, that's not the point I'm trying to make. The point I'm trying to make is that you can fix this."

Amelia looked back up. "R-really?"

"Yes. You don't think that he loves you, but trust me, he does. He really does. He's been a mess today just trying to figure out how to fix things with you."

"I, uh…"

"Look, you guys are going through a rough patch right now, I get it, I've been there. But I just wanted to come and tell you that things are gonna got real better real soon. I know they will."

"What makes you think that?"

Marie smiled teasingly and sat back in her seat. "I just got a good feeling…"

"...How did you know I was at this diner anyway?"

"...I have my methods."

Amelia shrugged it off. The Squid Sisters were quite interesting when you got to know them a little. "So, uh… you really really REALLY think things are gonna work out?"

Marie nodded. "Just make sure you attend the splatfest tomorrow." She winked and then stood up. "Enjoy the pancakes I ordered for myself because I gotta get going. Good luck, girl."

Amelia watched her as she left. "Uh… thank you!" She called out just before the door closed.

* * *

**Splatfest Night**

Bright concert lights filled the plaza with brimming happy energy. Inklings flooded the plaza, waiting for the reveal of Solar Flair. No one knew what they would be dressing in, the design having been kept secret until tonight. Most of the Inklings in the area gathered around the fountain that doubled as a stage platform, although the floor on the platform was missing.

Callie and Marie took a seat near the fountain with their drinks so they could get good views of the pop stars when they came onto the scene.

"Nervous?" Marie asked.

"Me? Nah." Callie lied in reply. "Why, are you nervous? Don't like competition?"

Marie grabbed her glass, holding onto it. "Well, I heavily doubt it'll be as bad as when Marina revealed her outfit."

"You only think that because she dresses more revealing than any of us."

"You gotta admit, the girl's sexy." Marie sighed. "I bet that these girls are gonna b in comparison." She said, using the letters without saying the word itself. "Yep. There's nothing to worry about, just plain and simply. We won't have to worry about any new rivals today. No sir."

"Ha! You are nervous, I can tell because you're making that face you make when you're nervous!"

"You don't look too comfortable yourself."

Callie put on a big fake smile. "Well, I'm not nervous, because you're right, we are the Squid Sisters and we will never have to worry about rivals ever again!"

"That's the spirit, girl. So, uh… Ethan and Amelia, are they here yet?"

Callie looked around, surveying the crowd around the fountain. She smiled and nodded toward a girl who was standing in a sun hat and a swimsuit. "Lovebird 1 is in the area."

"Excellent. And Ethan?"

Callie looked around some more, turning around to see the balcony, where the blue-hair Inkling stood in a tuxedo. She waved, and Ethan awkwardly waved back. "Both lovebirds in the area. First phase successful, second phase active. Mission is a go."

"Why are you speaking as if we're doing Agent work?"

"Well this is just as important, is it not?"

Marie rolled her eyes. "If it was, I would've called in Agent 4 long ago."

"Shh. Don't undermine the mission. This is the mission of our lives. The mission to end all missions!"

"Whatever you say…"

"_Ladies and gentlesquids." _An announcer boldly said through an intercom over the plaza as the concert lights intensified.

Callie and Marie both got ready for the performance. "Here we go." Marie sighed.

"_Welcome to tonight's Tea vs Coffee Splatfest! We are all absolutely thrilled that you would visit Splatoon Island for the occasion. Now, you are about the witness history in the making, as Solar Flair will appear publicly for the first time very shortly. These two girls have been best friends since childhood, having grown up together…"_

The announcer kept talking, but Callie tuned him out. "Wait a minute, that's not fair, WE'VE been best friends since childhood! WE grew up together!"

Marie chuckled. "Callie, it's gonna be fine. I really don't think we have anything to worry about."

"_Without further ado, please welcome, SOLAR FLAIR!"_

Electronic music with loud bass shook the plaza, as deafening cheers erupted all over. Decorative smoke came out from the fountain, and slowly, the platform rose up, revealing the popstars, their backs turned to the audience.

Suddenly, the two girls turned around, pointing to the audience, big smiles on their faces, revealing their outfits in full. The two girls wore black shorts and crop tops with high heels, some areas of the clothing glowing with neon lights. Dawn, the one with the red hair, had a sort of bunny ear ribbon on her head, and Sunny, with the yellow hair, wore black leggings to match her outfit.

Marie's glass shattered in her hand as she balled her fist in surprise.

"Oh my god they're hot…" Callie said, starstruck.

The crowd was going absolutely bonkers, and one person actually passed out from excitement. The girls began singing as the music reached the first part, the tune found to be incredibly catchy, and their dancing was on another level beautiful. Collectively, the whole situation were making both Callie and Marie extremely jealous.

"So, uh… what were we saying about rivals?" Callie said awkwardly.

Marie stood up angrily. "IS HER BRA GLOWING!?"

The two girls stared, and sure enough, Dawn's bra was glowing.

"Oh my god her bra is glowing…"

"I can handle Marina and her glowing shorts but this a bit much!" Marie yelled. "They're not even completely covering her breasts! What a god damn-"

"Marie, calm down a little. They're just… they're just rivals…"

Marie grunted and sat back down. "I'm tired of being upstaged by people who think showing off their belly button is a good idea…"

"Oh come on, we are not being upstaged…"

A random Inkling passed their table. "Haha, look at the Squid Sisters in comparison. So lame!"

"I bet these people wouldn't know truly good taste if it hit them in the face..." Marie said bitterly.

As she said this, the song that was playing reached its chorus, and the girls began rapping to it. It was… amazing.

Marie ducked her face down into the table. "Oh my god this song is so beautiful…"

Callie moved closer to her and grabbed her hand to comfort her. "Hey hey hey, get a grip now, don't forget we're on a mission."

Marie sat back up. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

* * *

Amelia stood among the loud crowd, standing relatively still compared to everyone else, simply watching Solar Flair. She shrugged to herself. "Eh. Squid Sisters are better. More disappointing than Off the Hook, really." She said to the crowd around her, but no one even heard her. "Alright. Whatever." She said to herself as she began to walk away.

Well, here she was. She heeded Marie's advice and attended the Splatfest. She wasn't a part of any team, she was just… standing around.

She looked around, eyeing the Squid Sisters, who were sitting and staring. Marie gave a wink and nodded her head in the direction of the balcony, where she could just barely see Ethan. Subtly, she smiled in satisfaction. Remembering what Marie told her, she slowly walked up the stairs to visit him.

* * *

"...Nice night." Amelia said after the two had been uncomfortably for a few moments. "And you like nice."

"Oh… uh… Thank you." Ethan said with a smile. "You look nice too."

The two leaned over the railing, watching Solar Flair perform from a distance.

"Uh… how'd you like the performance?"

"Solar Flair? Eh. Nothing special, ya know. No one can beat the Squid Sisters, I have a… nostalgic place for them. It was truly extraordinary to meet them."

"Good. I'm glad you're having fun."

"How about you? Rocking a tuxedo as always…"

"Oh, this old thing." Ethan laughed. "I just… wanted to look my best."

Amelia nodded awkwardly. "Hey, listen… I know we haven't really been talking the last couple days but I just wanted to say… About the other night…"

"It's no problem, really, I just… you know… Like you said, I'm a bit of a mess, admittedly. But I know I can do better for you, if you'll keep me around."

"About what I said about us breaking up, I uh… I didn't mean it…"

"Hey. You don't need to explain anything, and I mean it. It was just a rough patch, you know how those go…"

"Yeah…"

A part of Ethan wanted to kill himself right here and right now because of the awkwardness, but most of him wanted to see this through. "So uh… I was hoping to take you to the beach tonight. Just over there." He pointed to where the beach was.

Amelia looked over. "What's at the beach?"

"Oh, nothing much, I just thought it'd be a nice place to sit, you know… because people sit at beaches, ya know?"

Amelia eyed him suspiciously. "Alright, Ethan, what's up?"

"What? Nothing's up…" He lied.

"You're acting strange. It's not like you to be this romantic…"

"Romantic...? Nah…" Ethan wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then mustered his strength to grab her hand. "Come on, you're gonna love this."

Amelia shrugged and delicately accepted. "Alright…"

As Ethan led her down the stairs in the direction of the beach, they passed by the concert and thus, Callie and Marie's table.

The Squid Sisters stared at each other with the biggest, most mischievous smiles ever.

"Alright… It's working!" Callie said eagerly as she stood up. "We gotta go fast, Marie! Final phase of Code Heart is a go!"

* * *

The couple took a seat on the sand, dangerously close to the water. They sat for several minutes, Ethan buying time, as they looked up at the sky.

"The sky is so beautiful…" Amelia sighed. "It's honestly… pretty perfect…"

'SHIT, ETHAN, PICKUP LINE PICKUP LINE PICKUP LINE' Ethan screamed in his head. Without thinking, he made his move. "You know what makes the night more perfect?"

Amelia looked down at him.

"Your uh… Your…"

Amelia blushed. "Oh…"

"Your uh… Just… you."

Amelia smiled. "Really?"

"And… things are gonna get better…" Ethan said with a smile, turning his head to the direction of the plaza.

Suddenly, all of the lights from the concert completely shut off. The music followed soon after, and Solar Flair were left completely silenced by the embarrassment.

"Uh… is this on the setlist?" Dawn asked shyly.

"Oh my god, I was afraid this would happen…" Sunny replied.

Then the lights came back on, this time centered around the beach, in green and pink flashes. Then, green and pink fireworks began to go off, lighting up the nighttime sky. Amelia covered her mouth in surprise. She knew these colors…

Then, Fresh Start played throughout the island, turning many heads. Callie and Marie's voices rang in.

In their Squid Sister outfits, the two stepped onto the beach. They danced in rhythms to the music as they always do, and the entire time, they focused the attention of Ethan and Amelia.

A spotlight centered on the couple, and at this point Amelia was in tears. She was sobbing. It was intense.

The crowd that was once focused on Solar Flair were now stepping onto the beach and instead watching the Squid Sisters. Eventually, Dawn and Sunny joined them, staring in utter annoyance.

The Squid Sisters continued their song without fail, through the sand, and the crowd was now swaying and cheering with the melody.

Eventually, the two wrapped the emotional song peacefully, delivering their final lines. Slowly, all the lights but the spotlight focused on the couple faded away.

"Alright, kiddos! Let's wrap this up!" Callie yelled with a wink.

"Stay fresh, yeah?" Marie added.

Amelia turned to Ethan in amazement. "Did you… did you know about this?"

Ethan only smiled, pulling out the black box. The crowd was in utter silence.

Ethan felt like he was gonna have a heart attack, but pushed on. "Amelia… My dear sweet Amelia… I have a lot of words I wanna say to you, but I think for right now it's best we just cut to the chase. Ever since I met you, I've been in love with you. That was years ago. Now today… I'm taking the next step to show you how much I love you."

He opened the box, finally showing off the ring, and the crowd gasped.

"Amelia… Will you marry me?"

Amelia was sobbing even harder now. She still hadn't removed her hands from her mouth. "Oh, Ethan! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

They both slowly leaned and kissed under the night sky, and the crowd went wild again.

"SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS!" Some of the crowd began to cheer, which ironically, now included Jake and Lily.

The Inkling from earlier walked past Dawn and Sunny. "Haha, look at Solar Flair in comparison. So lame!"

"Nice work, kid. I knew you had it in you…" Callie said with a smirk. Then, together with Marie, they went over to Dawn and Sunny, who looked absolutely pissed.

"So, uh… Sorry for upstaging you." Marie said awkwardly. "We just uh… Had a code to adhere to, ya know?"

Sunny grunted, angrily walking away with a sort of bad bitch attitude, shortly followed by Dawn, who flung her middle finger into the air behind her. Callie and Marie turned to each other.

"I, uh… don't think we have to worry about rivals anymore." Callie said. "But ha! Whatever, right?"

"I should've just trusted things would work out." Marie said, looking over to the newly engaged couple. The two were now sitting shoulder by shoulder, heads touching each other, hands linked, as they stared out to the ocean.

"Code Heart never fails." Callie said.

"Never ever, not in a million years."

"Yeah. Uh… happy April Fools, by the way."

Marie looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. "Huh? Oh yeah… Today is April 1st, isn't it?"

"At least this wasn't a prank."

"God, that would suck… Could you imagine if this entire vacation just didn't mean anything in the end?" Marie shook her head, laughing just a little. "Happy April Fools."

Meanwhile, Ethan and Amelia smiled into each other, kissing once more.


	4. Back In The Day

**Hello, Interloper here. Here's my One-shot for the collection.**

**Back in the Day...**

**The Countryside…**

I was watchin' the my little grandsquids while my son and his little lady were out on their anniversary. They're some of the cutest li'l squiddo's you've ever seen, but they don't get along all the time. For instance, here, fight'n fer some reason.

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"No, it's mine!"

"MIIIIIIIIIIINE!"

"Now, hold on you two!" I broke them apart. "What's this fightin' about!"

"She keeps trying to take my Cap of Legend!" Little Otis Shouted.

"He haddid long! I wanna turn!" My Sweet Sarah shouted. "Tellim ta share, Gwampa!"

I took the hat from both of them.

"HEY!" They both cried in unison.

"First of all, this is MY cap, where'd ya get it?" I crossed my arms.

They both fell silent. I decided to pick them up, sit down, and set them in my lap. I put the cap on and looked to my little sea angels.

"Ya know how I got this?" I asked.

"This gonna be a war story?" Otis asked.

"Yeeesss." I nodded my head.

"Can we juss get a spanking?" Sarah hoped.

"No." I replied, shaking my head. "Now, let me tell ya how I got this cap…"

***Flashback…***

_It was back in the day during my days as a fighter in the Great Turf War. I wasn't the bearded old squid you see before you, I was young, hot, and could walk without a cane!_

"_**Wha's wiss your voice?"**_

_This is my story-telling voice._

"**You gonna talk about yourself the whole time?"**

_It's a story about me, so yes. Now, I was one of the lead members of the Southeastern Resistance Squerilla Splatoon…_

We were rough, we were tough, and we hit hard, we-

"_**Gramps, dis stowy is bowing…"**_

_I'm setting it up, Sarah. Now, despite being some of the best you could ask for, we were up against a foe so fearsome, so ruthless, so intelligent, that we were always on the ropes…and my particular squad gave him a heaping helping of trouble…_

**Two years into the war…**

_I was just in an uphill battle. Not unusual for us, but my entire squad was wiped out. I was captured, my men, or what remained of them, were being dragged into the fort along with me. I had lost my entire squad, including my own commanding officer…I was the only survivor, awaiting an unknown fate…_

_I was dragged into the fort, where the commanding officer, my greatest rival, Colonel Octolangelo, that artist's descendant himself, was gazing upon me triumphantly._

"Gerald Ligo, as I live and breathe…" _The slimy Octarian smirked_. "I must say, I'm impressed. You fought down to the last Squid. I believe I'll compose a Kazoo symphony in your honor. Gertrude, my Kazoo?"

"Here you go, sir." _His admittedly beautiful assistant handed it to him._

"Thank you, Gertrude."

"My pleasure, sir."

_He then started playing me a sad song on that horrible instrument. To this day, I'm not sure if he was taunting me, or if that was just the only instrument he could play…no hands and all…either way, I was something beyond furious, but I was held at gunpoint. I couldn't do anything…_

"_**Den you gotta hat?"**_

_Girl, he had me captured as a Prisoner of War! Why in Cod's name would he give me a hat?_

"…_**Honor?"**_

…_No, sweetheart…he did not give me a hat._

"_**Aawww…"**_

_Anyhow…after about a minute, he was finished._

"Alright, take him in." _He ordered._ "I want to see what he knows…"

_But before they could do anything, one of his guards burst into ink!_

"_**That's sad…"**_

_No, Otis, that's a good thing because it was the Legendary Squidbeak Splatoon, launching a surprise attack! I was saved!_

_I dove down to avoid the crossfire. Several Octos got splatted as Octolangelo's guard took him back into the fort. Shots came from every direction I crawled around enemy puddles of ink until I was stopped by someone stepping in front of me…I looked up to meet the unknown soldier's gaze…_

"Howdy there!" _The friendly squid tipped his hat to me._ "Craig Cuttlefish. Looks like yer in a bit of a pickle."

"Sure am!" _I nodded my head._

"Need a Weapon? A Bamboozler, Bucket, Crank-splatterer?"

"I'm a Brushketeer."

_A soldier then handed me a brush and I joined their fight. I fought hard to avenge my men. I just kept going until reaching the gate of the main building where Octolangelo's lackey was wielding a brush herself._

"Hello there, my name is Gertrude Cificap." _She introduced herself as she walked forward._ "I serve the Octolangelos. I tend to the manor, help them through their day, splat any foolish squids who try to harm them, and I make the tea…"

"**Did she really say that?"**

_She really said that…_

"_**Den you beat her!"**_

_Weeeeeell…If by beat her you mean she smacked my brush away in a blink of an eye, then yes…I beat her…_

"_**But weren't you amazing with a brush?"**_

_I was, but she was a classic type. Trained in proper Brush-based martial arts. You see those squiddos runnin' around with the Brushes, slappin' them around at their opponents?_

"_**Yeah!"**_

_That would've gotten' ya laughed at and splatted back then…_

_I ran back and was able to grab my brush, but she was hot on my tail and I couldn't turn around to fight back. Then shots came her way as Cuttlefish fired at her._

"Looks like a real splaternacker yer in now." _He correctly pointed out. _"How'bout I lend ya a hand?"

"Sounds good to me!" _I readily agreed and we both prepared to fight her together._

"_**And you won, wight?"**_

_Weeeeeell…_

"What is this lady?!" _I shouted as she kept us on the ropes._

"This is just nuts!" _Cuttlefish shouted in agreement as she kept dodging his blasts._

_After a good few minutes of getting chased around, the fight finally stopped when she Superjumped into the air onto an airship that just took off._

"Sorry, Ligo!" _Octolangelo fake-apologized. _"But I have a flight to catch! A technical loss, but a drop in the bucket compared to our ultimate conquest!"

_They flew up too high for us to get to them, so all we could do was collect the fallen and pay our respects. I had to pay respects to my Captain in particular…I'd prepared the burial and all and stood in salute before Cuttlefish came over with his hermit crab friend._

"I knew the man…" _He told me. _"Not very well, mind you, but enough to miss 'em…"

"Yeah…" _I sighed. _"He was a good Cap'n…no replacin' him…"

"No replacin' anyone…" _He said, grabbing his cap and putting it on me. _"But we all try to do our own thing. Our own way."

"R-right." _I gave him a fellow-Captain's salute._

_I then buried my comrades and left to find the others. I found them and led my Splatoon through many battles. I knew I would cross paths with Octolangelo again. I would…by getting captured again and being held prisoner for the last three months of the war…_

"_**Haha! Fail!"**_

**Present-ish Day…**

"That ain't funny!" I told her. "I was tortured for information. He gave me The Spoons!"

"I'm sowwy…" Sarah apologized.

"Oh, that's alright, little Seashell…" I immediately forgave her. "Yer young. Ya don't know war...keep that innocence as long as ya can."

"Can we get ice cream, Grandpa?" Otis asked.

"Why, sure we can." I agreed, setting them down. "Let's getcha some!"

Well, I don't think they learned any sort of lesson or anything, nor did they care about war or complicated history, but they're young. I'll just let 'em stay that way. To them, I'm just an old man ramblin', but to me…huh…

…Guess I was just ramblin'…


	5. The Water

This is her death. She knows this. As she dissolves, her screams are muffled by the water itself, until she dissipates completely, her ink mixing with the water before merging with it completely.

A loud splash rings out as the inkling hits the water.

The fall seems to last forever, as she stares up at her assailant. He had finally done it. He had killed her.

Flying over the railing, she screams out for help, but it's already too late. She falls over the railing and begins falling, staring back at the octoling that had sealed her fate.

Her screams didn't seem to reach anyone as the octoling she had come to know as her enemy closed in on her. With one final laugh and shove, she's pushed over the railing.

The octoling slaps the gun out of her hands, sending it flying off to the side. She yells out for help, but no one around seems to notice.

His sudden appearance startles her, and she takes out her gun to keep him away. "No! Stay away from me!"

She stares out at the open sea, wiping the tears from her eyes, when the octoling she so feared shows up one last time.

She walks up to the railing, still crying, unable to handle herself. Her life is falling apart, and she can't handle it.

She stops, arriving at a bridge overlooking the sea. The events of the day catch up to her, and she begins to cry. She sobs so loudly, drawing attention to her.

The shouts are drowned out by his voice, taunting her, teasing her. "You're so miserable... Pathetic... Can't you see that? I can't believe how much of a terrible squid you are." She runs and runs and runs and runs and runs. Until she finally arrives.

The group is shouting at her. Questioning her. Judging her. Mocking her. She begins hyperventilating as she looks for a way out. Seeing an opportunity to run, she takes off, not looking back at the shouting group.

She gasps and backs up. She had done it. He stared at her. His judging eyes causing her to be brought back ro reality. "You IDIOT. Don't you know what you've done?!" The group closes in on her.

The inkling collapses to the ground, the ink dissolving his body slowly. She slowly lowers her gun.

The inkling keeps yelling at her. She grabs her head, scared, frightened, terrified. His questions burn through her, she can't take it. Stop him. STOP HIM. She pulls her gun out, and without hesitation, shoots him.

The octoling caresses her cheek. She throws him off and yells out. She looks around in panic, when an inkling comes to her.

The octoling paces around her, his sly smile making her anger and dispair flare up. "You do realize I control you, right? You're MINE." She grits her teeth, as the octoling slowly walks up to her.

He appears again. That stupid octoling. She couldn't stand him anymore, she needed him gone. He simply smiles at her and raises his hand. "My beautiful Jamie..."

Jamie isn't quite sure when she got to the square, or how long she's been wandering for. It didn't matter anyway. She had lost everything. She looks around at her fellow inklings.

Her head was blank, she couldn't think. Her friends, gone. Her job, stolen. Why? Why did life hate her?! She blamed everything on him.

As she walked away from her old work building, she takes one last look at that octoling. Sneering at her with that colorless smile of his... She felt her dispair come back to the surface. She couldn't keep it down anymore.

"Good job on getting fired Jamie, fantastic job." His sarcasm seemed to bleed through her. "You pathetic child, can't even control your own emotions." She growled at him as she past, which gives him a good laugh. "You can't escape me. I'm all you have now."

The meeting was a lot of yelling. Jamie had freaked out and started screaming at them all. The octoling had been standing in the corner, smiling. His black eyes full of joy at the display. Needless to say, she had been fired. Her boss threw her out of the office and told her never to come back.

The octoling wouldn't leave her alone. He whispered to her all day, softly and encouraging, tempting her forward. She grew more and more anxious, her dispair starting to grow. To her dismay, she was called to a meeting.

Arriving at work, she felt him step behind her, his grin bearing his teeth to her neck. Her chest hurt. Her friends hurt her. Did they realize what they had done? Did she?

The only two friends she had been able to hold onto walked away, one of them giving her a glare as she walked away. The octoling stands over her. "Good one... Now you have no friends. Doesn't it feel the greatest?" He smirked down at her. She takes a shaky breath and turns to go to work.

The two stared at her in disgust. She backs up, ashamed. "I can't believe you! No, I'm not dealing with you anymore." The other nods, and they turn to leave.

She gave a nervous smile to the two, "I... Went out drinking again." She hated that she had ignored their plans to go out drinking, but she had needed the alcohol... Badly. The octoling scoffs from behind her.

Her friends were understanding, surely they wouldn't be too mad about this. They greeted her with dejected looks and frowns, asking where she had been the previous night.

She sees her friends. She doesn't want to see them. She had gone out drinking against their wishes. Again. This was the third time this week. It's Wednesday today. She starts to walk over to them.

Her headache is bad. She wanders away from her house, with the octoling seemingly floating behind her, keeping her on edge. "Ignore me all you want, I'm not going anywhere."

She wipes the rest of the fluid away from her mouth and gets dressed. The octoling watches her, saying nothing. She knows it's just him preparing to start picking her apart.

He bursts into the bathroom, leaning over the toilet and her stomach lurches as it empties it's contents. This continues for almost five minutes before it stops. This had become normal. She was starting to lose weight.

She gets up, hungover from her outing the previous night. She climbs out of bed and reaches for the pill bottle on the bedside. She stops. She'll go without them today. After all, her medicine couldn't be that important. That's when she feels her stomach lurch.

She awakes to some laughing. Sitting up, she turns to see him. Her enemy. He floats over to her and grins. "You're finally awake." She growls at him. "Oh, don't be like that. You know you can never escape me. I'm part of you." She sighs. He was right, he had been with her for as long as she could remember.


	6. Bad Dreamories

**Bad Dreamories**

**Aileen**

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our life."

_**-William Dement**_

I sigh and roll over in my bed, _again. _I glance at the clock, the green numbers displaying 1:43 AM. _One. Forty-three. _I groan loudly and get out of bed, walking into the kitchen.

"Four hours," I mutter. "Nearly four hours in bed and I can't get a damn minute of sleep." It's not an uncommon experience for me to have a bit of trouble sleeping. This, and the last few weeks, are on a different level. Probably has something to do with those memories returning. It makes it feel like sleep's...forced. Almost like my body's resisting on purpose.

In the kitchen, I open a cupboard and pull out a mug. It's my favorite one, painted red with glitter paint and green on the handle, "Merry Squidmas," written on the front in black. I smile, remembering how Josiah made it for me at a pottery studio a few years back.

I turn to the stove and put some water on. Typically, when I can't sleep, tea and a book really help. Mint tea, specifically. My favorite flavor, the taste blending in my mouth, the cool sensation it brings me, oh it's good.

When the water's done, I take a bag of mint tea and stick in the mug, letting the aroma fill the air. I take a deep breath in, letting the smell warm me. Calm me, almost.

I head back into the bedroom, turning the lamp on by the bed. I set the mug down on the nightstand and walk over to my bookshelf by the door to grab something to read. Two catch my eye, specifically. One an old human book translated into Inklish, "Lord of the Rings," another titled "A History on the Human Race." I grab the human book, since I had already started it, and don't want to start another until it's done.

Sitting back down in the bed, I crack the book open and grab my mug, taking sips of the tea, enjoying the flavor it brings. Soon, my eyes grow heavy. I set the book and mug down on the nightstand and close my eyes, letting the sleep wrap its arms around me, bringing me into the black void I know of.

I feel at peace. All the stress and fear of my normal life just...whisked away. Gone, in the snap of a finger. I float around in the black void, perfectly still, perfectly silent. I don't even hear my own breath.

It's false, though, I know it. This always happens, sleep gives me a false sense of security, making me feel safe. It typically screws me over sometime in the night. It comes surprisingly quickly tonight, a hand grabbing my leg and pulling me out of the void. I fly through various scenes, almost like movies, little segments of memories long forgotten coming back. They travel by at an astonishing rate, giving me only tiny snippets of them. Soon, the world's black and still.

"Wake up ya little shit!"

I'm lying in a bed, somebody's kicking it, and hands are shaking me awake. My eyes flutter open and I sit up, looking around. The first thing I notice is an old Inkling woman, who looks like she's in her 50's or so, standing over me. She stops shaking me, taking her hands off of my body, seeing I'm awake, placing them on her hips.

"Well?"

I'm silent, ignoring her, looking around the rest of the room. It's not unlike the army barracks I've slept in before, being a decent size with bunks all over the place. The only real noticeable differences are that the walls are wooden panels instead of metal and concrete, there are bookshelves here and there with kids books, novels, you name it on them.

"Are you going to keep ignoring me or are you gonna acknowledge my existence?"

I look up at the lady, and her face is red with anger. "S-sorry, I-"

"Come on," she growls, grabbing my arm and yanking me out of the bed. She drags me past a mirror, and I see myself, but much younger. My tentacles aren't faded, but rather fully pink and quite a bit shorter, skin pale as ever, and face much softer. I glance down and see I'm less...mature...than I normally am. The clothing's normal, though, exactly the same as I wear outside of the dream world. And for some reason, as you can tell, I _know _I'm dreaming. Why? I dunno, but hey, that's cool.

"Thought you could sleep in on a day like today?" the lady demands as we exit the bunk room into a hallway with the same exact style of walls as the room.

"What?" I say.

"You heard me. Or are your Octoling ears too rounded that my words roll right off?"

My ink starts to boil, but I keep the anger down for now. "No," I reply calmly. "I heard you, but...what is today again?"

The lady stops and looks me dead in the eye, her eyes on fire. "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Y-yeah, uh, I-I did," I stammer.

"Listen here, pest. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't law I had to take in every orphan brought here. I demand your respect, which entitles you to remember things that I tell you, like this. Is that understood?"

"Yes," I mutter.

"Sorry, I didn't quite hear that."

"I said 'yes!'" I shout back, a little louder than I meant. She slaps me across the face, my cheek stinging. My hand instinctively flies up to my face, covering the sore area.

"I will _not _tolerate back-talk from your kind. You Octolings think you're so high-and-mighty, what with your technology advancements and such, but you're really not. You are useless, there's no need for you and your floating platforms, your higher-grade weapons, we can figure all that out on our own. If I were able, I'd toss you out of here right now with the garbage. But I can't do that." She starts pulling me towards a door. "I still have my job."

She opens the door, revealing another decent sized room full of about 30 to 40 Inklings running about happily, most around my age. She lets me go and walks off, and I simply stand there, looking at all the people around me.

The lady stops when she's in the center of the room. "Attention!" she calls, but only one or two Inklings stop running around. She pulls out a megaphone that was sitting by a wall, and calls again, "Attention!" This time, they all stop running around and are silent.

"Thank you," she says with a smile. "I want all of you to line up against the wall, it's Adoption Day again. That's right, all of you, head on over." Some groan as their fun had been ruined, but most ran over and lined up happily, faces beaming.

"You too, octobitch!" one of the kids shouts, facing my direction. They all burst into laughter. My face red, I walk over slowly, avoiding eye contact. A quick glance over at the woman shows she's trying to contain her laughter, too. Oh, how I despise her already.

She heads out of the room for a few moments and comes back with some adults following behind her. After quietly talking to them, the adults walk over to us, looking at some. They ask us questions, like what our hobbies are, or maybe what we expect to do when we grow up. A couple pick based on looks, which really isn't smart by any means. They all skip over me entirely. It's almost as if I don't even exist, like I'm invisible or something.

Soon, the adults leave with the old lady, some kids in tow. There's roughly 25 left here now, pretty successful Adoption Day I'd say.

Right once they're gone, some of the remaining Inklings approach me.

"Well," one boy says. "Octoslug decided she'd finally wake up, eh?"

"Thought you could get more sleep than the rest of us?" a girl asks, raising her fist for a punch.

"N-no, I didn't-"

"Quiet!" a boy says, grabbing my shoulders and pinning me against the wall. His face is so close to mine, I smell the tuna on his breath. Ugh. "You will speak when spoken to."

"But-"

"Shut the hell up!"

Another boy walks up, an awful, sinister grin plastered on his face. "You know, guys," he says to the group confronting me. "I know a way we can have fun with her that doesn't involve a beating, depending on who you are."

"I like that plan," the first boy says, looking at me with greed in his eyes.

"No, please!" I beg, my eyes going wide as I realize what they mean. "Not that, anything but that! Beat me to a pulp, I don't care! Just please not that!"

"Silence!" the girl says. She grabs one of my arms, the boys grabbing my other arm and my legs, and they carry me out of the room. I attempt to squirm free, and manage to get one of my legs lose, but instantly another person picks it up, holding tighter.

"NOOOO!" I scream as they carry me off towards the bunk room.

I jolt awake in a cold sweat. I take a few shaky breaths, attempting to calm myself down.

"It's just a dream…" I say to myself. "Y-yeah, just a dream. A dream that actually happened to me once…"

I lay back down, closing my eyes, hoping the second attempt of sleep's better than the first.

It comes rather quickly, actually. Surprisingly fast considering the scare I just had back there in the orphanage.

This time when I open my eyes, I'm staring up at a white ceiling, a couple fluorescent lights here and there. I glance around and see things that make my hearts nearly stop. I know _exactly _where I am, the one place I never wanted to return to. I'm in the facility again, the worst place in my entire life. Experiment after experiment conducted on me…

I attempt to get up out of the position I'm laying in, but I realize I'm strapped down on a table. I look around and see medical supplies to the right, like a couple tools and such. To the left of the table is a computer desk. A couple of cabinets are up against the wall, and right in front of me is a door leading outside of the small room.

"Somebody, help!" I scream, struggling against the straps. "Let me out, I can't be here!"

The door opens soon and in walks a man in a black suit wearing white gloves. Another Inkling. His suit is his trademark, I can't stand looking at people wearing a business suit anymore without having memories invade my head.

The man smiles. "Good morning, Aileen," he says smoothly. "How are you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe horribly considering the fact I'm strapped to a fucking table."

His smile still stays. "Wonderful. Ready for more testing?"

"No."

He ignores me and walks over to a cabinet, pulling out an ink bag full of pink ink, matching mine. "I've always wondered what Inkling ink would do to an Octoling like yourself." He walked over to me and attached the bag to an IV and inserted it into my arm. I wince and instantly the ink begins flowing into my body.

"I hate you, you know that?" I say. I feel a slight tingling in my arm at the injection sight, and it begins spreading throughout my body.

"Oh, yes, I am aware. But remember, you're not really able to have those feelings, I've told you your kind are just animals."

"Your logic is pathetic."

"No, you're just too dense to see it's perfectly sound."

"Go to hell."

He laughs. "Not before you."

Soon, my arm begins quivering.

"Interesting," the man says, writing something down on a scratch pad. The shaking spreads, uncontrollably, and soon my entire body is shivering, as if I'm cold. My head begins hurting. I feel something strange in my tentacles, and glancing at one out of the corner of my eye that's dangling in front of my fae, I watch in horror as the tip begins growing white, spreading along.

"What have you done?!" I shout in a shaky voice.

"I have no idea," he says, writing more down. "Certainly astonishing though."

"Astonishing? You call _this _astonishing?!"

"Why, of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I'm probably dying over here, and you could give less of a shit!"

"You're right, I don't care, But for my sake, as there's more I'd like to do, I'll fix it." He pulls out a vial, replacing the ink bag with it. Soon, I feel my body loosen up, and the shaking goes away. I feel...sleepy. I close my eyes, and the world goes black.

Again, I'm up in a flash.

"Stupid memories, stupid, stupid, stupid…" I get out of bed and turn the light on. I yank open the closet door and pull out a box. Inside the box are a pistol and some ammo. Quickly, I load it up, pointing it at my head.

"I'm just gonna end it," I tell myself. "They're all right, Octolings don't belong here, we're all animals, it's all true!" I try to pull the trigger, but I'm unable to make my finger move, it's just completely unresponsive. Inside my head, I see him, Josiah, green tentacles, pale skin, looking at me, sorrow in his blue-green eyes. He's disappointed in me.

"Just let me end it!" I scream, tears streaming down my face.

His vision shakes his head. "I can't let you do that," it says.

"Why not? We don't belong here with you, all those people were right! So why the fuck not?!"

"They're wrong, Aileen, and deep down inside you know it. You and the other Octolings add so much to this world. Think of all the technological advancements and improvements you've added, all those things. Hell, you have floating platforms, nobody else has that kind of technology."

"So? The orphanage caretaker said that you and the other Inklings would be able to figure all that out yourself!"

"Aileen," the vision calmly says. "I love you. I cannot let you do that. What would the real me say?"

I lower my gaze to the floor. "He would be very upset…"

"Exactly. Now put the gun down."

I clench my teeth, shaking my head, thoughts flowing. He's got a point, but still. "No, I can't."

"Please. I know I'm just a figment of your imagination, Aileen, the real me wouldn't be talking to you this way. But listen to me. You're worth more than anyone bargained for. You're smart, cute, kind. All those qualities, the personality, you'd just throw away because some racists were talking shit about you and your kind?"

"Yes, I would!"

He sighs. "Think, Aileen. Think about your friends, real me, people who think you're a great person, a good leader, a fun person to be around. People _do _care about you, whether you realize it or not. You're energetic, you bring so much to our lives. I can't let you throw that away."

I tremble and drop the gun, falling on my knees. Vision Josiah smiles. "Thank you," he says before disappearing.

I sit there, choked sobs escaping my mouth. I turn my hands through my tentacles, tears pouring out of my eyes. Soon, I recompose myself, sniffing. I get up and look down at the gun. The cold metal still looks inviting, beckoning for me to pick it up and use it.

"No," I say, picking it up and pulling the clip out. I shove the clip back in the box, returning it to its resting space in the closet. Gun in hand, I walk out of my house and head next door, knocking on the door.

It opens a crack a few moments later. "Who's there?" a groggy voice calls out. "What the hell do you want?"

"Josiah, it's...me," I say. The door opens the rest of the way, revealing Josiah, who looks extremely tired, dark rims under his eyes, tentacles a mess.

"Aileen?" he says. "What are you doing here?"

I hold up the gun. "I...need to give you this."

His eyes widen. "Come inside, hurry," he says, stepping aside. I walk inside and he shuts the door. He grabs my shoulders and looks me dead in the eyes. "What the hell did you do?!"

"N-nothing," I stammer. "I didn't get very far-"

He snatches the gun out of my hands. "What were you thinking, Aileen? I know our lives have been bad at times, but this is _not _the way to fix that!"

"I realized that. That's why I'm still alive."

He looks away and sighs. I hear him sniff quietly. "I just...don't know what I would've done had you done it," he says, a slight catch in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I-"

He cuts me off, pulling me into a kiss. It lasts a while, and I let myself melt into his warm grasp.

He soon breaks it up, looking down at me, tears in his eyes. "I'm glad you're still here," he says.

"Me too," I say with a smile. "Sorry for scaring you like that."

"Don't you _ever _do that again."

"I won't." I pause for a moment. "I was wondering, would it be okay if I stayed the night here? Or, what's rest of it, that is."

"O-of course!" he says happily. "I was gonna ask it myself, actually."

I smile. "Well, lead the way."

He smiles back and grabs my hand, leading me towards the bedroom.

**AN: **Yo yo, EagleByte here! Here's my first entry for the SWC Oneshot Collection, and whew, was this a fun one to write! I, uh, am not sure if that's a good or a bad thing though…

Hey, fun fact, this was written in my little composition book back in school after I finished my tests early. You know, those standardized tests where they give you WAY too much time to complete it? Yeah, those. Of course, it was heavily edited from the original form to what you see here now.

Oh, also, if you've been following Shared Universe, another collab I'm in based on a roleplay I've done with other writers, this is based on that. Check it out some time if you like, posted by Justsomesquidiot.

Anyways, I've got some other projects I'm working on, and a bit of school stuff, so this marks the end of this longer piece. See ya!

*yeets away*


	7. Sisters In Arms

**Sisters in Arms**

**A/N: Hey hey! Obliter checking in! It's my first time writing a one shot story, so let me know where I can improve. Also this story somewhat connects to my main story: Old Hatreds, so check that out sometime.**

**Kelp Dome, Octo Valley**

The Zapfish shone brightly within its energy shield.

Nearby, several Octolings patrolled the Kelp dome.

They were on high alert, after all Octavio predicted that they would be the next lair to be attacked.

"Alright troops! Agent 3 will show up any moment now, he may have conquered the previous lairs, but he has yet to face us Octolings. Let's show him that the Octarian army is not so easily beat!"

"YEAH!"

The Octolings held their weapons high and cheered, before spreading out to their usual positions.

It been several days since Agent 3 first showed up.

So far seven kettles have fallen, plus the boss kettle of the Mighty Octostomp.

'_Could we really beat someone who can go toe to toe with a Great Octoweapon?'_ One Octoling wondered.

Her name was Sonya, not that it mattered.

After all she was just a regular Octoling.

Just one of many soldiers.

She took position near the Zapfish, not because she was having doubts about their chances of surviving, but because it was her assigned position.

"…"

Normally there would be two more Octolings stationed nearby, but she only saw one today.

"Say, are we short one Octoling?" she asked.

The nearby Octoling didn't notice it until now "Hmm, now that you mention it, I haven't seen Eileen here today."

Another name that didn't matter…

But why wasn't she here?

Sonya decided to ask another one of her squadmates.

"Eileen? She was granted a leave for today. It's her first birthday since joining the army, she she's probably gone home to celebrate a safe year."

"Ohh, so that's why…"

Sonya wondered what a family was like, after all her mother didn't survive giving birth and her father was one of the many Octarians who died due to Octo Valley's state of disrepair.

"Lucky her…" she muttered

"What's wrong? Are you worried that we might lose the upcoming battle?" her squadmate asked

"No it's not that, I'm just wondering if Eileen's family is…. I'll return to my post."

Sonya returned to her position by the Zapfish.

'_So Eileen still has a family to return too…'_

Sonya knew the names of everyone in her squad, but she didn't know anything else about them.

Not that it mattered, they were all, like herself, low ranking Octolings with relatively no importance to the army.

"Hey, someone is entering the lair!" came a voice over the radio.

Sonya immediately stood up and grabbed her Octoshot.

She tried to see was was going on by the entrance, if Agent 3 was here then she would super jump in to support her squadmates.

"False alarm, it's one of ours."

'_One of ours huh, did Octavio send reinforcements? Does he think we can't stop Agent 3? Could it be an Elite Octoling?'_

Sonya sat wondering as she guarded the Zapfish.

She then noticed the new arrival, she was happily greeting the other Octolings as she made her way to her post.

"Hi Sonya!"

Sonya was surprised to see this specific Octoling here, especially after what she just heard about her.

"Huh!? Eileen!? Shouldn't you be somewhere else?"

Eileen simply smiled.

"Where else would I be?"

Sonya was confused.

Didn't Eileen get permission to leave?

Should she be celebrating her first year in the army?

"I heard that you went home to celebrate your birthday with your family. Why did you come back?"

"Oh that, well….."

Eileen turned and glanced over the Kelp Dome.

Since they were standing next to the Zapfish's platform, they had a decent view of the entire area.

"This is much more important."

"More important?!" Sonya exclaimed "Don't you have a family at home waiting to celebrate your first year in the army?"

The two had very different mindsets.

"What's the point of celebrating if I've never even seen combat? I heard Agent 3 is coming today, so I'm only going home after we splat him."

Eileen was planning on going home a war hero.

Did she not know how dangerous Agent 3 was?

"And what if you fail? Or what if you get splatted? You should have just went home."

"No, I won't." Eileen had already decided, she wouldn't change her mind now.

Still, Sonya didn't want her to stay.

"Listen, I'm an orphan, I have no family left, I'm not important either so it won't matter if I die. But you, you have family waiting for you back home. Don't put them through the grief of losing you on your birthday."

Eileen just smiled, she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of a proper reply.

"Do you think I'm unaware of the danger ahead?" Eileen asked

"Well, kind of... yeah…"

"Well I'm not, that is why I'm here."

"Huh?"

Sonya couldn't understand.

If Eileen knew how dangerous it was, how close Agent 3 was to reaching their lair, why would she come back if she was given the chance to leave?

"If I hadn't known that Agent 3 would arrive today, I would have gone home without question." Eileen continued. "But I know he's coming and I know I'll likely be dead before the end of the day."

"Then why did you come back!?" Sonya exclaimed.

"If I chose to stay home knowing full well that you and the rest of the squad would fight today, I would feel like I abandoned my squad."

Running away from battle was greatly punished in the Octarian society.

But Eileen was given permission to leave.

Sonya paid close attention as Eileen continued to explain her reasons.

"You know, I'm not the first soldier in my family, my mother was a soldier and my grandmother too. But my mother ran from battle once, she was scared of dying, because of that she was ridiculed. No, not just her, but my entire family. I don't want them to go through that again, if I die then so be it. At least then they'll have the honor of saying that I stood and fought to the very end. Besides I want something worth celebrating: victory in battle and the safety of Octo Valley, I don't want to celebrate something as pointless as my birthday."

It was clear that Eileen wasn't changing her mind.

"All of us enlisted to protect Octo Valley, in a way we are all sisters in the army. You guys are just as important to me as my family. There is no way I would leave you to fight Agent 3 without my help."

'_Sisters huh, I never thought of it that way.' Sonya thought_

"I will go home victorious, or I will die here with my sisters in arms." Eileen concluded.

Sonya was impressed.

She hadn't really spoken to anyone else in her squad before, because she felt that cannon fodder like them were not important.

Yet here was Eileen, though she was still a regular Octoling, there was so much more to her than meets the eye.

Sonya looked over the Kelp Dome, at the various places where her fellow Octolings were stationed.

Maybe she had the wrong idea about the army.

Maybe instead of seeing everyone around her as expendable troops like herself, she should have seen them for who they were.

Octolings, each with their own reasons for being here, their own lives and their own stories, just like Eileen.

Sonya wondered if she'd have time to talk to everyone once the fighting was over, this time she would really get to know them.

"Well then, you should get back to your post. If Agent 3 makes it to you, I'll back you up." Sonya said, raising her Octoshot to show she meant business.

"Yeah hold on, I have to do something first."

Eileen didn't come over to the Zapfish to speak to Sonya, she had something else.

The Zapfish in the Kelp Dome was placed on a cylindrical command post.

Sonya watched Eileen pull out a note and some tape, Eileen make sure to tape all four corners to the command post so that it wouldn't fall off.

After that Eileen returned to her assigned position in the lair.

Out of curiosity Sonya looked over at what Eileen had wrote.

Half of it was written in the Octarian language, the other half was the universal language that almost every sea creature knew.

She probably wanted to make sure everyone could read it.

"..."

It was a farewell note, Eileen must have wrote it on the off chance that someone would find it if she got splatted.

Sonya couldn't help but notice that there was enough space for more words, after pondering for a while she went into the command post.

There was a radio along with a map, some pens and a notepad.

Taking a pen from the command post, Sonya added her own words to Eileen's note…

Ink was splattered everywhere.

The entire Kelp Dome was now a mess of dark magenta and blue ink.

What was once a lair full of Octolings was now devoid of Octarian life.

On top of the command post, the shield protecting the Zapfish was being covered with blue ink.

Agent 3 kept firing until the shield burst, leaving the Zapfish open for the taking.

"Zapfish! Hook line and sinker!" He heard Cap'n Cuttlefish say.

Agent 3 grabbed the Zapfish, powering down the Kelp Dome

"Alright! That makes nine Zapfish! Nine wins for Inkopolis, none for the Octarians!"

He ffelt like he had come far.

When Cuttlefish asked for his help, he was worried that he might get splatted fighting the Octarians.

But over time he had gotten used to it, it was even fun to some extent.

Splatting the forces of evil, rescuing Zapfish and looking real fresh doing it!

Feeling happy, Agent 3 did a pose with the Zapfish flailing in his hand.

Time to head back.

With a smile on his face and the Zapfish tucked safely under his arm, Agent 3 started heading back for Inkopolis.

That's when something caught his eye.

There was a note taped on whatever structure held the zapfish.

He didn't see it earlier, since he was too busy splatting the Octolings, a new type of enemy not previously encountered.

He couldn't understand the first half, as it was written in a language not used in Inkopolis, but the other parts were written in the universal language.

"_If you are reading this part, then I guess you aren't an Octarian. Oh well, it doesn't matter. My name is Eileen Pierce, an Octoling soldier. If you find this note, then I have likely passed away. Today was supposed to be my 19th birthday, my family was waiting for me back home, they probably planned a surprise party to celebrate my first year in the army. But I chose to ignore that and return to the front lines, because my squadmates, my sisters in arms, they are just as important as my family, I won't leave them to fight without me. Since I won't make it back home, please let my family know that I died of my own volition, fighting bravely 'till the very end._

_Eileen Pierce"_

Agent 3 was struck with a wave of emotions

Was it pain? Guilt? Sorrow? He couldn't tell.

There was more that he could read.

"_Eileen doesn't know about this part. I am Sonya, one of the Octolings serving with Eileen, I don't know my family name, nor my family. I made a mistake in the army and I want everyone to know it. I thought we didn't matter, I thought that we were all meant to be cannon fodder for the more important Octarians. I was wrong, though many of us will die in battle, we all had our own lives, our own stories to tell, please keep that in mind and spread the word._

_Also do me a favor and don't let Eileen be forgotten, she was courageous, valiant, brave. Not like my bad self, who only joined the army for the paycheck. Well I'm off to the afterlife, see you around, whoever you are."_

Agent 3 had splatted dozens of Octarians already and walked away fine.

So why did this make him feel so sad?

It wasn't just sadness, there was some guilt as well.

Agent 3 looked at the Zapfish flailing in his grasp.

Did it want to stay with the Octarians?

Did it even belong to Inkopolis in the first place?

Was he in the wrong for splatting all those Octarians?

"Cap'n, are we really the good guys here?" Agent 3 asked.

"Tough question bucko, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just went through a bit of a reality check."

'_Who was Eileen? Who was Sonya? Did I really splat them both?'_

Strange how a name could change everything.

Agent 3 wondered who they were, maybe if he tried speaking to one of them, could they have solved the situation peacefully? Or would they just splat him?

He considered taking the note with him, but decided against it. Instead Agent 3 stared at the note one last time, burning into his memory.

Also taking a picture with his Squid Phone just in case.

He walked slowly towards Cuttlefish's shack and Inkopolis, taking the time to reflect upon himself.

Was it wrong to attack the lairs and take the Zapfish?

Maybe he could find out more about the Octarians, maybe the sunken scrolls could reveal something.

Well for now he had more Zapfish to retrieve, although he wouldn't enjoy doing it anymore.


	8. The Tournament

**A/N: Welcome to month 2 of the SWC Collection! If you payed attention to last time, you'll remember that my OC's signed up for a tournament. So yes, there's a tournament. I'm aiming to write more, so let me know how I did! Well, let's go!**

**Disclaimer: As usual, I own absolutely nothing except my OC's. However, a few other OC's do show up later that I don't own… **

**Antonio's P.O.V**

Well, it was time. 16 squads. Only one team would return with the trophy. I was waiting with Team Overdrive, Hero Roller Replica on my back. Mariano was flipping his dualies, Logan was buying us breakfast, and Matthew was looking up who we were against.

"So, I found the details about who we're up against." Matthew said. "Apparently Cutthroat Calamari is back for a grudge match."

"Those guys again?" Mariano whined. "I thought they knew when they were beat."

Logan then walked up to us with drinks and food in his arms. "Well, they were talking shit about us, so I think that they expect us to be pushovers."

"Yeah, remember that too on the Fishcord for the tournament." Mariano said. "So, you know what they're using?"

"Yeah. Katherine's using an Undercover Brella, Ryan's got his E-Liter 4K Scope, Sean has a Permanent Inkbrush, and Josh has a Tentatek Splattershot."

"No problem, we can come up with a winning strat." I replied. "So, Mariano takes the…"

**[5 Minutes Later…]**

"So, do you guys copy?" I asked.

"Gotcha." Logan replied.

"**Attention Team Overdrive and Cutthroat Calamari!" **The announcer said through his microphone. "**Please enter Deca Tower for battle!"**

**[Scene Change, Kelp Dome]**

We changed back to our humanoid forms and pulled out our weapons. I waited for the airhorn, then dashed for the center. About a minute in, the center was being heavily contested. They were resorting to bombs ever since my Splashdown splatted the sniper. I was planning on pushing further, but I got splatted with a well-timed jump and shot from Katherine.

"Can't drop your roller now, ego sweller?" Katherine taunted. "Oh well, our squad has the best training, so too bad!"

I cursed and super jumped to Matthew, who was trying to take back turf. I was just turfing and trying to splat as many of them as I could. Things didn't heat up until the final minute, where ink was flying all over the place. I tried to do a Splashdown and Super Jump, and my gambit played off. The time then ended, and Judd gave us the results.

"Mrrow… (And the winner of this bracket is…)" Judd began.

I was shaking in my shoes. Did we win it?

"Mrow! (Team Overdrive with 72 percent!)" Judd announced. We all cheered while Katherine began screaming with rage.

"HOW DID YOU WIMPS WIN?!" She roared. "WE HAD THE BEST TRAINING!"

I smirked. "At the end of the day, it's the teamwork, not how much you pay your goons."

She then stormed off. "Hey Katherine?" I asked. She turned around and glared at me. "When you become a better leader, I'll gladly rematch once more."

The spectators then cheered loudly for us.

"**Wow folks, this kid's really the true shogun." **The announcer said. "**Now, let's move to the next bracket!"**

"Looking for your enemies?" A sinister voice called. I turned my neck around and saw four Octoling soldiers. "We're here to crush you!"

"You know you can't kill us here, Hana. The same goes for your squadmates." Logan warned. "Doing so would be a massive mistake."

"Well, it's not like you'll be moving up the bracket!" Jolie taunted. "We have the best training here."

"They don't know that we're not acting as NSS members, right?" Matthew whispered. "We can do whatever you want."

"Alright team, we can do this. If we exploit the fact that they're gonna be in duos, we can take turf easily." I replied.

"**Actually, they're assuming that you're gonna try to take the center." **A voice said in our earpieces.

I tapped my earpiece. "Alex, is that you?"

"Well, I wanted to watch the tournament, so I'm doing it from the top of a nearby building." Alex replied. "Nice job, Antonio-senpai."

"Hey, how come I don't get an ending on my name?" Mariano complained.

"Well, they're calling Antonio a shogun, so I might as well use an elder race term of respect, right?" Alex replied. "Anyways, I did a little hacking and the stage is gonna be Wahoo World."

"That means that we already have a plan, right?" Matthew asked. "Can we go Operation Guerilla Strike?"

"Well, considering that they have no idea of the layout, we might as well." I replied. "Okay squad, let's do this!"

**[Scene Change, Wahoo World]**

We jumped out of the spawnpad and rushed to the sides, effectively taking control of the outside in about half a minute. I saw Mariano dodge-roll in and splat Sophie, making her scream in anger. Hana then rushed for the middle, only to get hit by a trickshot from Logan while she was monologuing.

"What is it with the Octarians and their speeches?" Logan asked. We began pushing into their territory and then began using their military tactics. They tried to swarm us, but with only one squad, they really couldn't rush us. This resulted in Jolie jumping in with her Octoshot and missing every shot, letting me dodge and throw her a Curling Bomb. She was confused by the round device, just staring at it. It blew up in her face, and she was splatted while whining about us getting the best equipment.

"Well, we actually did the work to win, and not just show up." I replied. "So get some training, or try out for the next tournament."

Logan was exchanging fire with the last Octoling, letting us move up. The final minute horn then blared, letting us know that we only had one minute to take control of the amusement park's turf grounds. I began throwing my bombs and found that they had no idea how to counter our rush.

Needless to say, we won by a long shot.

"Mrrow! (Team Overdrive crushes Military Masters with 84 percent to 12 percent!)" Judd purred the results.

"Nice job, Antonio!" Alex exclaimed. "Good luck next round."

"Grr… you jerks were cheating!" Jolie yelled at us. "How else did you win?"

"Weelll, we actually dedicated ourselves to training for the tournament." Logan taunted. "We didn't come here hoping for Zapfish as a prize, we came to show our skill."

"Grr…" Jolie was about to punch me, but Hana grabbed her before she caused harm.

"Jolie, that's enough. We don't want to cause a scene." Hana warned her. "I'll have to talk with my uncle about this if it escalates."

"Well, I guess you guys put up a good fight. Now, if only you guys put up fights like this in the field…" Sophie said.

"Thanks, I hope we can be friends one day." Mariano said.

Logan then groaned. "Did you really have to say something sappy like that?"

After the meeting with the Octolings, I walked over to Crusty Sean and bought a Main-Saver Lemon. Geez, even after I arrived, I still got a lemonade whenever I had the chance.

"Nostalgia, eh?" Logan asked. He sat down with a Sub-Saver Berry, and we began waiting.

I sighed. "For the last time, I'm reflecting on my past, not running from it."

At that moment, an inkling in what I recognized as the Guillie suit with a Bamboozler Mk II walk up to our table.

"Greeting cadets, how's the war going?" She said.

"Cadets?" We both asked.

She began to laugh. "Sorry, I come from a military family and I like to act like a soldier. The name's Sylvia, by the way. I'm leading a squad called Golden Oceans!"

"Wow, nice name!" I replied. "I'm Antonio, and I'm the squad leader of Team Overdrive."

"Well, good luck in your next round!" Sylvia exclaimed. "Now drop and give me ten!"

Logan then did that, and Sylvia grinned. "Also, we made it into the final round!"

"Oh, congrats!" Logan replied.

"**Attention Team Overdrive, your rival squad for Round 3 has been disqualified for illegal modifications!" **The announcer said. "**Team Overdrive has automatically been advanced to the final against Golden Oceans! Squads, please enter Deca Tower!"**

Sylvia turned to me. "Well, that's a sudden change in events, cadet. Good luck!"

I smiled. "Same to you!"

"**Also, due to this being the final, the match type has been switched from Turf War to Rainmaker! Please take note of this change."**

Mariano sighed. "Well, at least it's not Tower Control."

We stepped into the tower, and prepared to play for keeps.

**[Scene Change, New Albacore Hotel]**

We swam out of our spawnpoint and started to make our way to the Rainmaker. Matthew split from us and he began trying to snipe the Splattershot user. They weren't unprepared, as they fought back with a Splat Bomb. Logan then began camping on the Rainmaker, and as they bursted the shield, Logan jumped out and splatted them with a jump shot. Somehow, Sylvia was ready for this, and she got two fully-charged shots on Logan, splatting him. She then took the Rainmaker, and I nearly got hit by her blast. I threw a Curling Bomb and dodged to the side, and flung my roller at her. Combined with some of the ink from my Curling Bomb, this was able to splat the feisty squid.

"Nice job soldier! You caught me there!" She said happily while returning to spawn. I broke the shield, and began moving forward. I made it all the way until we were 30 marks away from the goal. I then got splatted, and Mariano took the Rainmaker for me.

**[3 Minutes Later…]**

The Rainmaker was just dropped 10 marks away from the goal, and we were in overtime. I had a Splashdown ready, and Sylvia was trying to snipe me with her Bamboozler. Everyone else was splatted, so I was the last line of the defense. She opened the barrier on the Rainmaker, and I was barely able to avoid being hit. I was about to get hit, but I made a desperate push and managed to hit her with my Splashdown. She was stunned on the way back to spawn, and I took the Rainmaker. I was climbing up the wall, dodging the Inkjet that someone was using, and…

…

…

…

I dunked it on the pedestal, and I heard the shrill whistle of the referee.

The whole of Team Overdrive and Golden Seas were smiling as Judd announced that Team Overdrive had won the tournament. I shook hands with Sylvia, and she was really happy as she handed me a note.

Meet me after the awards ceremony at Shella Fresh.

I nodded, and I sat through the whole ceremony. I was handed a massive trophy, and everyone in the team received a whopping 100,000 coins. After that, I left the trophy with Matthew, who was beaming at it. I walked up to Sylvia, and I could tell that she was ecstatic.

"Nice job private, you really are good!" She exclaimed. "I actually was exhausted after the match. What about you?"

I sighed in exhaustion. "I think that gave you the answer you needed."

She grinned. "Well, you have a hundred grand burning in your pocket, so why not go on a vacation with me?" She asked. "I heard of this really nice place called Splatoon Island, and they have so much there, and lots of sports that aren't ink battles! You excited?"

"Count me in. I really could use a break." I replied.

**(1 Week Later…)**

**[Scene Change, Manta Maria]**

Well, me and Sylvia are on our way to Splatoon Island. We're on deck of the S.S _Coral Reef_, and it's so cool being on board!

"So, what do you think, private? Nice view!" Sylvia exclaimed. Instead of her normal camouflage equipment, she was wearing a red t-shirt, sweatpants, and a pair of sunglasses. I was wearing a green t-shirt, black shorts, and a safari hat.

"Well, the air is really nice, and that makes it better in my opinion."

She sarcastically groaned. "Of course it's the little details that matter." She then pinched her nose. "Going where no squidkid has gone before, crashing over the blue waves-"

I cut her off there, because I didn't want to hear her dramatic speech. "I think I got the message. Besides, I have a feeling that we'll need humor later on."

I smiled at the ocean. Who knew what this vacation would bring?

Well, for sure, a shell lot of fun!

**A/N: Well, I literally finished this at 10:27 P.M, but I'm feeling great! Also, for the record, the Splatoon Island in next month's one-shot isn't the same one as the one Toon Think wrote about last month. Well, see y'all next time!**

**Fight For All Fiction,**

**ZygardeFusion**


	9. Blind Spots

**Blind Spots**

**By: Plain Ol' Spectator **

Something was very wrong, Sophie knew it in her hearts. Otherwise, she wouldn't be trembling so much while in the comfort of her room.

She had not gone out today, and wasn't sure if she even wanted to anymore. After all, who knows what could happen? If some new event were to send her into yet another of her sudden, random blackouts, only for her to wake up somewhere that was in no way where she intended to be at a certain day?

Frankly, she was getting tired of it. **Why **did they have to happen, and what could she even do to stop them? She pondered over these questions well after she got her lunch, as she now stood up and proceeded to pace back and forth in the quaint little room she called home.

While doing so, her head slightly moved down and a peach-skinned hand was placed on her chin. "I don't get it," She said out loud, "H-have I been pushing my body too hard? No, I don't do any exercise that's too demanding. B-but Maybe it happened during a turf war?"

She shook her head disapprovingly at this notion. "Ugh, no.. if I did, I would've been in a hospital by now. The referee would've told me, at least…"

As she sat down, Sophie's mind got to work once more, searching and remembering any abrupt cuts in her experiencing of time, any incident in which she lost consciousness.

She grabbed the nearest piece of paper and pen she could find and wrote down any and all instances she could remember of passing out. 5 occasions came to mind, all in all, much less than Sophie assumed she went through. A small relief, yet it did little to ease her worry. She needed to get closer, to unearth the 'how' of it all.

"Okay. I remember passing out in my first match on that ancient-looking Pavillion, and again in the match on Sturgeon when I first met.. him." Sophie began to recount, tapping her pen to her cheek. "But even then, I felt it coming. Like.. a warning before it happened. Then there's that other time I passed out near a store next to here. I felt it coming that time, too. And when I woke up, I was either in a nursery or the same place where I drifted off…"

Yet as she reminded herself of these facts, the doubt in her mind lingered. There had to be another reason, another cause for her blackouts aside from mere fatigue, since they definitely were not enough to explain how she sometimes teleported to different places upon waking up. The last time that happened in particular was still a doozy for her. She wrote down 'fatigue' on her paper and set the pen down, proceeding to rise from her chair and half-heartedly laying down on her bed.

Her eyes closed, the girl pondering over the 'teleportation'. Obviously, she was unable to actually use such power, otherwise she'd have already made her daily life much easier. So naturally there had to be something— or perhaps someone?— that moved her from one place to another while she was out like a light. She was sent to a nearby nursery the two times she passed out during a match, and now that she thought of it, she remembered waking in a brown, wood-lined room one time and found the middle-aged owner of the store she frequented checking to see if she were alright. A kind fellow, he was, even if he came off as a creep at times.

Perhaps there always happened to be someone near the places she passed out, who managed to get her to a safe place first before she could come home. That had to be it, no?

She giggled upon thinking it over. "As nice as that would be, it's too convenient of a reason. No one here is kind enough to carry me here, or even to a hospital on their own."

Unless it was that boy she met some time ago, of course. He'd certainly offer to help her…

Sophie shook that thought out of her head as soon as she felt her cheeks heat up. She looked around her room, then to the afternoon sky framed outside her window, and down at herself. Perhaps a walk could serve her well right about now, help clear her mind and think better. And so she stepped off her bed and got ready, readjusting her gray sweater and blue jeans while also slipping on her neo octoling boots. Once she got a good look at herself thanks to a nearby mirror she recently bought, she proceeded to quickly grab her octo-shades from the bedside table and walk out the door, into the outside city of Inkopolis.

The walk itself remained uneventful from beginning to the current time, to Sophie's relief. She could think much more clearly now, and as a bonus she got to see more of the wonderful city. Needless to say, it brought a small smile to her face.

She came near a wide balcony, lined with short trees and rows of flowers neatly organized along a rhodonite-tiled platform. There also happened to be a bench, perfect for getting a great view of the horizon.

This really was a good spot! The setting sun amidst the dusk sky, along it's light being reflected on the sparkling ocean down below made for a beautiful backdrop in Sophie's mind, and she felt glad she was able to experience it all from the comfort of the little bench she was in. The sunlight that shone directly on her face was proving to be a little too much for her eyes, almost blinding. Then again, she brought her shades for a reason. She used her right hand to cover her eyes from the light and simultaneously used her left to slip out the shades from her jeans' pocket and putting them over her eyes. It's dark lens worked perfectly, managing to block out the rays directly hitting her face while still allowing enough light for her to get a good look at the horizon. Much better!

Sophie smiled and continued to bask in the sunset for a minute.

Suddenly a yawn escaped her lips, and her emerald green eyes began to ever so slightly droop down more and more. Sophie felt her mind go cloudy and her head move down, all the while pleasant thoughts filled her head. She felt herself slipping—

…

…

A faint whooshing sound passed by. Muffled murmurs echoed. Her idle hands felt something soft under them, yet her vision remained dark. Vagrant thoughts trickled in one by one as her consciousness returned.

"_Wha…? Where..._

_..Bright light, an ocean below… a bench?_

_Trees..?_

_Wait, that was.. a park?_

—_The park!"_

Her eyes shot open, and with a start the octoling re-emerged from slumber. A dozen questions crashed down on her all at once while she regained her bearings, and her thoughts were a hazy, jumbled mess. In an instant she leapt out of bed with a surprisingly high energy, and after looking down at herself— observing that she somehow still had the same sweater, jeans and even boots combination as when she went out— noticed something out of place in her room.

That white grocery bag near her door wasn't there yesterday. Where did it come from? Her reasoning mind told her it was likely something she bought when she left, but no images came to mind that would prove such an event as having happened. Another answer formed; perhaps it was during her leisure walk towards… where again?

She put a hand on her forehead, though it did little to cull the increasing throbbing she was feeling. "A.. park? Did I even go there?"

Hard as she tried, no tangible memory came up, and her recollections of the previous night were rapidly fading. At best, only vague images remained.

Sophie winced and shook her head. Trying any harder to remember would only worsen the throbbing, and there were other things she needed to focus on anyways. Like the mysterious bag.

She took short steps toward it and knelt down to take a look at it's inner contents. Only a box of chips and a bottle of.. apple juice?

There was even a small note inside, which read '_Tasty gifts -V_'.

Sophie's eyes narrowed. She certainly didn't ask anyone for gifts like these..

* * *

Cod, she felt tired.

A grocery bag wasn't supposed to send her mind into overdrive, and after analyzing it for a good chunk of the morning, Sophie just wanted to stop.

So naturally, arriving to Inkopolis Square seemed like a decent activity for Sophie, if only so she could take a break from so much thinking and theorizing. Goodness knows doing too much of it would melt her brain. So, she decided to brush her troubles aside if only for a few moments, and enjoy everything the Square had to offer.

With a cup of coffee and a magazine with her, Sophie had all she needed to relax. It was only a couple pages in her reading, however, than she felt a pair of hands grip her shoulders suddenly. Shock filled her being, yet as she whipped around to see who it was she felt her cheeks warm up and her hearts hasten.

It was him again!

"Whatcha doin' there, missy?" The inkling boy asked with a sly smile, causing Sophie to look down sheepishly. It was for a few seconds however, for he dropped the act and offered a fun-filled laugh and a welcoming grin, letting go of the octoling's shoulders.

"I kid. How's it going, Sophie?" He greeted jovially.

"A-ah, I'm doing fine, uh…" She trailed off when another thought came up, one that set her off into an internal panic. She unwittingly chirped a small whimper.

The boy mock-pouted and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you forgot.. It's Adrian, silly!"

Sophie stammered an apology, and thankfully for her Adrian accepted it. The cyan-haired, tan-skinned inkling plopped on the chair next to hers, and already they began striking up a conversation.

"W-well, what about you?" Sophie asked simply, unsure of what else to say.

"Really tired, actually.. gotta tell ya, some people are **insane** at these games! Like, this morning me and some buddies were doing just fine aside from the occasional loss, but then this squad came in and they started to kick our butts a dozen times!"

Sophie's gaze gained a little worry. "Oh my.. it wasn't too severe though, right?"

"If a 23-loss streak and being constantly harassed by two tryhard octolings counts, then sure I guess," Adrian whined, laying his head on the table.

This got Sophie's attention. Two octolings? If there were others like her who arrived at inkopolis, then she didn't know a thing about them. Thinking she'd be the only one to escape was perhaps foolish on her part. Or perhaps..

No. Another ridiculous notion. Why was she worrying about that now, anyways. She came to _relax_, after all. Still, it left her wondering...

"Well.. what were the octolings like?" She asked once more.

"Aside from being really good with their weapons, they sure talked a lot. One of 'em kept chewing out a kid in her team so much he left in tears, and I swear the other was never gonna shut up if I kept losing. She's not bad once you get closer to her though.. kinda fun to hang around with, honestly!" He finished with a chuckle.

"_Fun, eh? It'd be nice having something like that,_" Sophie lamented to herself as her mouth unwittingly curled into a frown. Adrian noticed this however, yet just as he was about to ask the octoling if she was alright, she spoke up before he had a chance.

"I'm fine. I've just been.. thinking about a few things."

"Like?"

"...Who were those octolings?"

A simple question to dodge his own.

Adrian paused. ".. Are you-"

"No. I assure you, it's not what you think," She clarified with a firm tone that took Adrian by surprise, with him even leaning back a little in his seat. He wiped a nonexistent sweat off his brow.

"Phew.. well, I think they were called... Vanessa and Natasha? I dunno, I barely got their names when they appeared in the lobby at first. They both have red tentacles and they wore some admittedly fresh clothes. Though, one of them had blue tips at the ends of their tentacles for some reason, along with these weird shades I've never seen before.."

Sophie merely hummed in response, having already taken out a small notepad and pen and scribbling down the details of Adrian's description. She looked around the square, but was unable to find anyone who could fit Adrian's description.

"Oh, they're not here at the moment," Adrian chimed in, "Vanessa said she needed to get some rest, and Natasha left because of, uh.. something about getting a gift for someone, I think?"

"Oh, I was.. hoping I could get to meet them," she said flatly, still in her search.

She didn't know how or why, but a hunch assured her that these two octolings could lead her closer to finding the truth. Sudden and off-base, perhaps, but still very possible in her mind.

Yet before she could stand up and leave, the concerned golden eyes of Adrian stopped her in her tracks, almost making her shrink under them. "If something's bothering you, you don't have to keep it to yourself, you know."

"I… I'll tell you later, alright? I-I have to go now," She stood up from her seat quickly ,and without another glance turned around and began to walk away from the table. Adrian stood up as well and cusped his hands over his mouth to shout at the departing Sophie.

"Hey, don't you wanna play turf or something?!"

"Not now! Thank you for the offer, still!" Sophie shouted back with a wave, getting farther and farther from Adrian until she was out of his sight.

"..Man, girls are weird.." The inkling boy asked to himself as he was left alone, visibly confused and wondering if he said something wrong.

A sad frown framed Sophie's face as she departed the Square. Playing turf now **would** be nice, in actuality. If this were any other day, she would've accepted without question.

She couldn't, not in the mood she was in at the moment, and certainly not when there were more pressing matters to worry about.

* * *

A bag that appeared suddenly. Recurrent episodes of passing out, and bouts of memory loss. And now, two octolings.

And Sophie still felt no closer to figuring out what's been happening to her.

She was now idly sitting on another bench she found in one of Inkopolis' many sidewalks, looking down at her phone. Adrian was kind enough to send her a couple of pictures and a video for better reference as to who the octolings were, and for now Sophie decided to watch the video.

Her jaw remained dropped as she continued to watch the so-called Vanessa in action. Her sauntering to and from, her playful teasing towards Adrian and a few other squids, the loose punk-styled clothing that only served to show off her curves, and Great Zapfish, all the suggestive stances she took!

She would've been immediately expelled from the army had she been seen trying any of this back in the Canyon.

"_Heya, squirt. Whatcha doin'?_" Vanessa asked in the recording to a very happy-looking Adrian.

"_Huh-Oh hey 'Nessa! Come say hi to the camera if ya want!_" the inkling beckoned, before the camera was moved around to record the octoling and her devious smirk.

"_But I have stage fright.. just kidding! I'd love to spend some time with all the lovely squiddos watching this, if you get what I mean,_" The octoling smirked and even waggled her eyebrows.

"_Woah, I think that's a bit too far,_" Adrian remarked as he scratched his head, "_But don't worry! She doesn't bite!_"

"_Nope,_" She knelt down and wrapped her arms around Adrian's neck. "_Not as long as this cutie is around, hehe!_"

"_Do you do this with everyone you beat in turf?_"

"_Maybe.. or maybe not. Ahhh, who cares really?_" She said in a lax tone, which prompted the two cephalopods to break into hearty, fun-filled laugh.

Sophie was left to scoff at such attitude. How could Adrian or anyone else endure her?

Part of Sophie felt glad she hadn't met her during her talk with Adrian, and she hoped that whatever meeting she ended up having with this show-off Octo was a short one. She turned her phone off after looking at more pictures of the two octos and made her way around the city streets in search of them.

Yet for every face Sophie spotted in the sidewalks, for every citizen she bumped into, and for every corner she looked in there were no signs of either of the octolings she was looking for. Asking around didn't help much either. Inkopolis was a big city after all, and if she persevered then surely she'd be able to find them. Right?

Hopefully it doesn't take more than a few days for that to happen.

For now, she decided to get a brief respite from the searching in a nearby cafeteria she spotted. Right away there was a vacant table for the taking, too, and for the moment she focused on enjoying her snack.

Occasionally she took a glance at the ongoings of the cafeteria. A family of 4, all inklings, were happily chatting away with a large dolphin fellow, and beings like trouts, clownfish, manta rays and axolotls were doing various things as well. No one looked at anyone weirdly, something that always fascinated her. How so many people of different shapes, sizes, backgrounds and cultures could intermingle so harmoniously and with little conflict was and still is a mystery to her, despite how much joy it brought. What is it that allows people to see past outward appearances and forge links with one another, in comparison to the strict, reserved environment in octo canyon, where the fellow octos Sophie met were at most coworkers and acquaintances, and all outsiders were looked down upon as if unnatural creatures?

She even saw a thin ammonite person waiting at the counter and doing some small talk with an octoling. Cute scene...

"_Wait, what?!_" Sophie did a double take and trained her gaze on the octoling. Sure enough, she looked just like the one from one of the pictures Adrian sent her, the one with just the plain red tentacles. Since Vanessa was the one with blue tips on her hair, the one here had to be Natasha.

Sophie did not make any immediate approaches, however. Too hasty and sudden of a greeting would only drive Natasha away, and she wouldn't say anything unless she felt she could trust Sophie. Yes, perhaps Sophie needed to become her 'friend' first before asking the important questions?

Sounded like a fine plan, if a little rough. Sophie waited for Natasha to finish her purchase at the counter-a presumably large item stored inside a hefty box wrapped in gift paper- and started following her as soon as she passed her by. With the sluggish manner in which she moved with the gift in arms, it likely was a tad too heavy for Natasha. She could collapse at any moment. Which of course, she did, thanks to a discreetly thrown stone courtesy of Sophie that tripped Natasha up while she wasn't focused.

Just as she intended, Sophie swooped in and caught the other octoling before they could hit the ground,utilizing her own set of hands to better carry the gift. "Are you okay?" She asked, to which Natasha responded with a slow nod.

"I'm sorry. That was too careless of me," She added, a look of shame present on her face.

"Not at all. Besides, there's been no harm done," Sophie replied sweetly.

"I guess. Thank you for your help, though. Hauling this thing all day would've killed my arms," Natasha laughed. Sophie giggled at the quip as well, and after some introductions and direction-giving from Natasha, the two octolings got to work on moving the large gift to Natasha's home.

During their voyage, the pair decided to make a quick stop to rest, and they both sat down at a bench to catch their breath.

"Man, this really saves me a lot of time. I can't thank you enough, honestly," Natasha commented in a relieved tone as she relaxed her shoulders.

"Glad to have helped!" Sophie beamed, clasping her hands together.

"It's just also nice to see a fellow octo out in the city, y'know? Makes being here seem a little less daunting.."

"Inkopolis doesn't seem so bad to me, though.. are we the only ones to have arrived here?"

"I dunno," Natasha shrugged, "I've only seen you and that Vanessa girl around. But hey, if the two of us managed to leave the Canyon, I'm sure others will start coming in the city sooner or later."

"I hope so.. this place is wonderful," Sophie added, turning her gaze skyward.

"Not the word I'd use, but I agree…"

Sophie turned towards the Octoling again and asked. "Natasha.. after we carry your gift home is it.. okay if you help me with something?"

"Okay, I guess? What is it?"

"Just, ah, to put some doubts of mine to rest."

The dubious frown that framed Natasha's face incited feelings of insecurity in Sophie, and she faltered as to whether this was a good idea or not. She shut those thoughts out before they truly settled in her brain, however. She needed to achieve her goal above all else for now.

Eventually, they resumed their hauling of the gift and made it to the small apartment where Natasha said she lived in, and upon reaching its doorstep, the two octolings set the large gift on the ground.

"What's this gift for?" Sophie asked after taking a moment to catch her breath.

"It's.. for Vanessa, actually! Met her recently and wanted to give her a little something as a token of my gratitude," Natasha clarified, glancing down at the box. "Though I guess it's not so little after all, huh?" She joked with a small giggle.

"I see.." Sophie nodded slowly. "Shouldn't you send it straight to her instead? Why did you-" Sophie stopped herself in the midst of her sentence upon deducing her answer.

"Yeah, if she lived closer, then I could. I can only move around for so long before tiring out, and I don't own a vehicle of my own, so I made another stop here and I'll let her know that she can come pick it up."

"Ah.. where does she live then?"

"I think she said.. Wingfin Avenue, 4th street?"

Sophie's breath got caught in her throat upon hearing those directions. "..Do they live in a red apartment?"

"From what they've told me at least- Wait, you live there too?" Natasha asked, looking at Sophie with surprise, and she in turn nodded slowly. "Huh, didn't know you two were neighbors!"

"Me neither…" Sophie trailed off. The detached tone in which she expressed her thoughts masked the fear building up within her. How come she's never seen Vanessa while passing by the other dorms whenever she got out? How did Vanessa's meeting with Adrian just so happen to occur shortly before Sophie went to visit him?

It could've been just coincidence right? Or perhaps something else is at play..

"Hey, is this related to those doubts you mentioned?" Natasha asked out of the blue, breaking Sophie out of her trance.

"Um.. I can send this box to Vanessa for you, if you want! I wouldn't mind helping out some more!" Sophie offered a bit too eagerly, taking hold of the box on the floor and trying to lift it up. Her companion stopped her, however, and looked her in the eye with concern that appeared much more serious than her previous demeanor.

"I don't mind if there's something bothering you, okay? It's fine if you don't wish to say for now, but you don't have to hide your worries from me, either."

She gazed at Vanessa with a stunned expression. "R-really?"

"I know we just met.. but if you ever need anything don't be afraid to come to me, alright? Heck even if you're in trouble somewhere, just call me."

Yet more questions slithered their way into the shyer octoling's psyche; Most important of all, Why was Natasha so dang friendly with her? How did she know what to say? It's not as if-

Wait.. The friendly disposition with which she carried herself, her willingness to help, her sending of gifts to friends (well, friend).. The bag on her home was labelled a gift too, and Sophie was returned to her home upon passing out..

Sophie gasped in realization. "_Of course! She must've been the one to have brought that gift to my room! She had to have been the one to return me home when I passed out!_"

"Soph? What's-"

"I just remembered something! I-I'll come back as soon as I can, ok? I need to go!" Sophie hastily blurted out as she picked up the gift box and broke into a run, leaving Natasha and her home behind.

This had to be it, no? It explained nearly everything that has happened to her, it made sense in Sophie's mind. Now she just needed to make sure her information was correct, and eventually confront Natasha about it. That, and she still needed to meet her supposed neighbor in person.

Suddenly, she was tripped up by something as she passed an alleyway, causing her to fall and drop the present. She turned her body around only to be met with a large figure standing over her, knife in hand. With a whimper she crawled away from them in a panic, yet it proved to be fruitless in the face of the advancing stranger. The octoling was cornered into a darkened alleyway, and just as they raised their knife high and brought their arm down, Sophie let out a scream of fright.

Everything was dark for what seemed like a thousand moments. Ever so slowly but surely, Sophie's vision returned, and as her eyes readjusted and focused the first thing she saw was a distressed Natasha crouching over her, repeatedly shaking her body.

"Sophie?! Sophie, say something please!" She yelled in a panic.

"Huh..?"

Natasha quickly groped Sophie into a protective hug. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?! What happened here?!"

"Why do you ask?" She replied weakly, "I thought you'd already know…"

"What?"

"Thank you for saving me from that criminal, and for the bag, and for bringing me to my doorstep when you found me passed out in a park. You don't have to hide anything from me.."

"Uhhh, What are you talking about?" Natasha inquired with a confused brow. "When I came here these guys were already down."

Sophie broke from the hug and looked around the alley, seeing more than one of the cloaked figure lying on the ground, most likely unconscious. "You didn't? T-then who…"

"Whoever it was, they're gone now. Surprised these scum didn't lay a finger on you, though…"

"This doesn't make any sense.." Sophie quitely trailed off, observing the area. She was interrupted once Natasha tapped her shoulder and handed her the octo shades. "You dropped these," Natasha informed only a second before they were snatched from her hands by Sophie.

As if in a trance, Sophie stared at the sunglasses in her hands while the gears in her mind turned. Everything from today and yesterday replayed in her mind, and all instances in which she wore the item in her hands were given special attention. She couldn't recall moments in which she wore them.. Vanessa always appeared to have them on. She had an undercut and blue tips on her tentacles..

Blue tips...

With widened eyes, Sophie gasped. She quickly grabbed one of her tentacles and looked it over to see its tip colored a deep crimson, and instinctively she rolled up one of her sleeves to see a black leather wrist band with spikes. Like the ones Vanessa wore.

"What's wrong?"

Natasha's question fell on deaf ears, for Sophie immediately leapt to her feet and broke into a run once more with the large present in tow. She ignored Natasha's continued calling of her, as the only thing in mind was getting home and busting a sneaking suspicion-

The shades couldn't still be functional after a long time away from His influence, could they? There was no way they could do their _thing_.. Right?

* * *

With box in hand, Sophie ran all the way back to her apartment with as much speed as she could muster. Of course, she still needed to slow down at times so as to not murder her own hearts, but that didn't mean she had to stop running fast.

Soon, she was back in her room and right away proceeded to close her door and bring down the window curtains. No one needed to take a peek inside, anyways.

Sophie's palms were sweating as she set down a camera she just bought on her bed, and simply grabbing the hypnoshades caused her hands to shake. She let out a shaky breath and shook her head, yet once again it did little to wipe off her worries.

Oh, what even could anyways?! She was this close to getting an answer, so close to putting it all to rest, yet doing the one thing that would assure her of this seemed wrong, seemed as if she were about to walk onto a horrible trap.

She would just black out again, wasn't she? To wake up somewhere and in another time with no recollection as to how or why, right?! Her body would just be carried away by whatever force possessed her, no?! Ohhh, this was a horrible idea!

These thoughts rattled, coiled and banged in her the longer she stared at the shades in her quivering hands. Her gasps for air came out short and ragged, and she immediately felt her hearts hasten in their beating.

"_I.. I can't do this!_"

She threw the shades away in a panic, and soon her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed on the took in gusts of air, and for a few moments she merely laid there. Weakened, hesitant, tired..

Scared.

Pathetic, really. All because she didn't want to put on some shades. Yet as much as she wished to merely go to bed and forget about all this, Sophie would not allow her body to do so. She needed to see things through. "_Get ahold of yourself,_" She commanded, taking a series of deep breaths in the process.

With one more exhale she stood up on her feet once more, eyes trained on the pair of sunglasses that lay on the floor.

They were picked up with such care, it seemed as if she was holding a vase of glass. She might as well have in that moment. With extended arms, Sophie held out the shades in front of her face and carefully put them on. With bated anticipation she saw as they came online, with tiny lines of directives flashing rapidly through the lenses and a bright red dot lighting up on the lens of her left eye. Then…

…

Huh. Nothing ended up happening. She was still conscious and aware of her surroundings.

"What do you know? It was just—!"

The sentence got caught in her throat as a sudden indescribable pain struck Sophie's head. Her entire body flinched, and no sooner had the pain vanished than a wave of dizziness overcame Sophie. Her stance swayed and her body quivered, and she had to grab onto the mirror as a support just to remain standing. It was getting harder for Sophie to keep her eyes open, and even harder to think straight, for her thoughts began to get muddled and foggy.

The fog grew and grew, until it became too much for Sophie. Her heart stopped beating abruptly, her body froze and her eyes rolled to the back of her head and closed. All was still for a few moments..

The octoling trembled once more, and as new ink began to pump through her veins, her limbs and body all swelled. muscles and limbs becoming slightly more toned and bigger, to the point of straining the fabric of her clothes. A few small tears even erupted along her jeans, and the sleeves of her sweater rolled back a little. The crimson on the tips of her tentacles spread over her hair until it was coated entirely in the striking color, while the tips gained a light blue coloration.

The changes stopped, and after regaining some strength and taking a few gasps of air, the octoling straightened up and opened her eyes, shielded by the blackened lenses of the hypnoshades.

Vanessa merely looked herself in the mirror and flashed a mischievous smile in satisfaction.

Her smirk faded once she felt something off— itchy— about her clothes, and when she looked down at herself she made a noise of disgust.

"Ugh, this stupid sweater **again**?! Why do I keep waking up with this?!" She complained loudly, poking her tongue out. Grumbles escaped her mouth as she right away got to changing her appearance for the next few minutes.

When she finished her attire was just like how she was when she went out today, dressed in a dark blue tank top and having rolled up her jeans so that they reached a shorter length and her legs were shown more openly. She still wore the neo octoling boots of Sophie, and she outfitted herself with black spiked armbands and black earrings. The four tentacles of hair

had been bunched up into a short ponytail, leaving the undercut that wrapped around the sides and back of her head exposed.

"There.. much better," Vanessa nodded upon looking at her reflection in the mirror once more.

Following a brief stretch of her limbs, Vanessa was about to head out the door when she noticed the camera from the corner of her eye, and instead she moved to pick it up from the bed. "Oh hey, it's recordin'!" She pointed out cheerily upon seeing it's display screen, and moved it so that it was pointing at her, with Vanessa flashing a punk sign with her free hand.

She finished the recording that somehow reached 3 minutes in length and expressed aloud "I wonder if there's anything else in this." Vanessa was surprised to see just one video. Maybe this was a recent purchase of hers?

She brushed the question aside, however, and instead decided to go out for the day. It would be just her, her fun and—

"_Out…_"

"Who's there?!" Vanessa turned around in an instant, yet there was no one to train her eyes on aside from herself.

"_Me.. out.._"

Another muffled whisper resounded, and Vanessa wrathfully swung open the doors of her closet in another attempt at a search, yet once again there was no one for her to blame.

"If this is a joke, it isn't funny! Show yourself!" She shouted in a rage.

"_Not a jo.. please let.._"

Vanessa could only groan in response. Can't this idiot take a hint?!

"Don't care, not listening~"

"_LET ME OUT!_"

The voice's plea stabbed through her being without relent, and a harsh throbbing sensation drilled into her head more and more by the second. The octoling yelled in fear and pain and was forced to her knees. She could barely think, the only thing on her mind now being the excruciating hurt and more desperately how to get rid of it. This sudden, wildfire that's tearing her apart from the inside, it was becoming too much.

Vanessa was stuck writhing on the floor and yelling like a mad girl. Without thinking she clawed at her face repeatedly until her hands got ahold of her shades. They were promptly yanked off her face, why she did not know, and the throbbing vanished. A brief victory, for she soon lost consciousness..

Only to regain it in a pitch black void that stretched for as far as the eye could see. Vanessa leapt to her feet, and was left utterly puzzled as to.. well, everything really. No point in moving around then, where could Vanessa go anyways?

"Who are you?" Vanessa heard a familiar voice say from behind, and she turned around to see a worried Sophie standing a few meters apart from her.

"I could ask the same thing," Vanessa replied, walking up to the other Octoling and sizing her up. "You.. you nerd."

Sophie was taken aback. "N-nerd? But I'm not… Hey!" She retorted with a sudden accusatory shout, weirding out Vanessa.

"You! you're the one from the recording, the one who.. got all touchy with Adrian!" Sophie yelled again (though the last sentence had a meeker tone), pointing a finger at the other Octoling.

"Jeez, I was just flirting with him. Besides, he's just another squid," Vanessa shrugged with an unamused expression.

"He's—.. nevermind that! What are you doing here?" Sophie asked again in a more pressing tone.

"Hmm, I dunno. I figured that maybe the voice that brought me here would HAVE A CLUE!" Vanessa suddenly shouted as she got in Sophie's face. Sophie nearly shrank under Vanessa's stare, and the obsidian glasses that were framed on her face only made Sophie feel more intimidated.

"I-I'm sorry.." Sophie looked down apologetically, "I didn't mean to—"

"Then why'd you do it?" Vanessa seethed, staring down Sophie even more.

"I-I want to get out.. and I want you to stop running around in my body!"

"**W-what**?! The heck are you talking about, I've got my own body!"

Sophie took a breath in to calm down, then asked "Well Vanessa, do you remember any instance in which you weren't wearing those shades?"

"Of course I do, I took them off when.. uhhhh.. " Vanessa put a hand to her chin and began to think. Tried as she might, however, the aforementioned octoling was unable to find any memory that could answer Sophie's question.

"You can't, can you? And I can't remember a moment in which I wore the shades.. which means that they have to be the reason why we black out at times. No.. they're the cause of the change."

The assuredness with which Sophie stated her reasoning unnerved Vanessa, who had her mouth slightly agape at what she just heard and was uncharacteristically fidgeting.

"As if! You're probably just some imaginary friend in my head, trying to tell me something. Maybe I just forgot all the times I didn't have the shades on because they're so dang good," Vanessa retorted, though it came out in a way that seemed nervous.

Sophie frowned. Was she trying to ignore her on purpose?

The thought was pushed to the side when she noticed something familiar on Vanessa's head. It was barely visible, but she could make out the shape; an undercut that wrapped around the sides of her head, with the left side displaying a pattern of three thin ridges running along.

Just like the pattern on her own left side.

She felt the ridges on her own head, hidden by her loose tentacles, and pulled them up and tilted her head to the side to show Vanessa.

She could only gape in surprise. "No.. no way…"

"I don't know why or how this has happened, and I'm probably a little off on this but.. I think you.. you may be my alternate personality, Vanessa."

"Wh-no.. You're just lying!" Vanessa shouted defiantly with a shake of her head, "There's only one me, and I never did anything to have **you** intrude on my life!"

"W-we wouldn't be in this void if it was a trick!" Sophie pleaded.

"Then what am I doing here?! Who- who am I supposed to be then, if I'm just another aspect of you?! Am I just a tool for you to use whenever you're tired?!" Vanessa cried out repeatedly, grabbing her head.

Sophie merely looked on in fear. She took hesitant steps closer to Vanessa and gripped her shoulders.

"P-p-please, calm down!" she pleaded again.

"I can't be calm about this! I- " Vanessa stopped when she met Sophie's worried gaze. It must have gotten to the very core of her being, for her tirade came to a swift end and she closed her eyes to then take a deep breath. "I.. really hate you for this, you know?"

"I know, and I'd like to apologize. I wanted answers but.. I never expected this would be the result."

"Alright then, since you know so much about what's happening, how do we get out of here?"

Sophie looked down in thought for a few moments, then faced Vanessa and answered "One of us could regain consciousness, but as for the other, I-I don't know.."

"That's all I needed to know. Hope you enjoy being cooped up in here Soph," Vanessa asserted, giving Sophie a small goodbye wave before breaking into a run. She didn't get very far before she felt her hand being grabbed by the meeker octoling.

"Wait! You don't even know how you're going to-"

"I'll figure it out, and then I won't have to black out all the time with you getting in the way," she snarled back.

"Not on your own, you won't. Not without the shades," Sophie insisted. "I...I can regain control of the body for the both of us, a-and if you want I can give you the.. th-the-"

"Reins?" Vanessa finished, to which Sophie nodded affirmatively. "It's for real, right? you're not gonna trick me?"

"I have no reason to," Sophie answered with a shake of her head, to which Vanessa grinned.

"Good. We would've had problems if you chose to lock me up here," She said in a menacing tone, which did it's intended purpose of scaring the shy octoling, if even a little.

They both remained static for an extended period of time, merely staring at each other, assessing each other. Wondering how the other even existed without their knowledge for a time.

"Well? Aren't you gonna go back to the real world?"

"This is.. I don't know what I'm going to do. With having to account for you now and all the changes that'll come with that, the things this will do to my life, to yours even… oh what am I going to tell Adrian?"

"Nothing." Sophie looked to Vanessa for clarification, and she clarified "Not him, not Natasha, not whoever else we met and are going to meet. As far as they know, you and I are just two acquaintances who never bother to meet face to face."

"But we can't keep this hidden forever.. someone will find out sooner or later, won't they?"

"Maybe… Doesn't mean we won't try our hardest to cover it up. For now, let's agree to never disclose our condition to the outside world."

"Alright then.." Sophie nodded reluctantly. In her mind she found this a rash, terrible decision, made only so they would not have to go through the trouble of looking for actual help, less so a psychiatrist. Did Vanessa truly think they'd be able to deal with this on their own?

Still, for as much as Sophie would like to object to the idea, it was pointless to argue for now. She needed no more problems between her and.. her?

No. She wasn't Vanessa, and Vanessa wasn't her.

After bidding each other some awkward goodbyes, Sophie closed her eyes, and upon opening them again was greeted with the sight of the roof of her small room. To her left lay the hypnoshades on the floor, and to her right the mirror. Right away she noticed that she was again in Vanessa's getup, and she leapt to her feet and got to work on returning to her original look.

The octoling looked at herself in the mirror. The dull, frowning face that stared back at her seemed tired, so so tired of the long day that's passed. She glanced to the window— The sun was still high in the sky and already she felt like going to bed, yet still she knew there was much to be done. So much to be done in order to get used to her literal double life.

"Vanessa? Vanessa, are you there?" Sophie called out. She should've expected her words to fall on deaf ears, for no response came either in her mind or from anywhere.

"Guess she truly isn't aware of anything while I'm conscious. Since the same happens to me while she's out, there's no way for us to communicate with one another. Unless.."

She moved to her bedside table and from one of the drawers brought out her small notebook, then wrote down a message in it before putting on the hypnoshades again, despite some initial hesitation.

Vanessa emerged once more, surprise and confusion etched on her demeanor. She looked around the room as if in a daze, until her stare settled on the note resting on her bed.

"'_As promised'_?" She read aloud upon taking the paper in her hands. "S-she did say she'd give me control back but.. this soon?"

Vanessa looked to the outside window and the afternoon orange sky behind it. She had the remainder of the day to herself now, yet despite the many things she wished to do in the next few moments to forget about what she's just experienced, she..

This wasn't her time yet. She needed to make sense of her existence, of the voice in her head first before doing anything else, otherwise she'd be constantly distracted. And one thing Vanessa never wants is distractions.

"It's kind of you, Soph, but.. Nah. I need to clear my head first, you can have as much time as you want for now."

And with that, Vanessa went to sleep upon taking the shades off her face, and Sophie returned to the physical world once more. The first thing she laid eyes on was a new message on the paper that wasn't there when she was conscious. Vanessa surely wrote it.

" '_Thank you. -V_'" It read. Nothing more and nothing less.

Sophie smiled sweetly.

"No. Thank **you**."


End file.
